B.R. firm gets corps’ OK for 492-acre wetland mitigation bank

Baton Rouge-based Resource Environmental Solutions announced today it has received approval from the New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create a new wetland mitigation bank serving south Louisiana. The Caney Creek Mitigation Bank, located approximately eight miles west of Mamou, will re-establish over 492 acres of bottomland hardwood and bald cypress-tupelo forest, RES says. The resulting credits will be used to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts from project activity in the Mermentau Headwaters watershed near Eunice. The bank’s primary service area, which covers portions of Evangeline, Acadia, Jefferson Davis and Allen parishes, is also a significant migratory bird flyway. Conversion of the bank site to a forested ecosystem will restore species diversity by creating more habitat for resident and migratory wildlife. Meanwhile, RES says, the watershed itself benefits from site restoration by retention of surface water runoff, stream flow maintenance, nutrient cycling, aquatic productivity and the reduction of pollution from agriculture activity.