What is Mitigation?

Mitigation Defined

Mitigation banking is defined in the Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use and Operation of Mitigation Banks Federal Register: November 28, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 228) Pages 58605-58614 as: Wetland restoration, creation, enhancement, and in exceptional circumstances, preservation undertaken expressly for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable wetland losses in advance of development actions, when such compensation cannot be achieved at the development site or would not be as environmentally beneficial. It typically involves the consolidation of small, fragmented wetland mitigation projects into one large contiguous site. Units of restored, created, enhanced or preserved wetlands serve as "credits"  which may subsequently be drawn to as offset "debits" incurred at a project development site.

The Nature Conservancy's Mitigation Bank in Mississippi

Old Fort Bayou Mitigation Bank

For more information about the Old Fort Bayou Mitigation Bank or other mitigation project needs statewide, please contact Mike Murphy, Coastal Field Representative.

The Nature Conservancy
South Mississippi Conservation Program

1306-B Bienville Boulevard

Ocean Springs, MS  39564

(228) 872-8452