These environmental professionals are committed to the preservation of critical habitats, and the enhancement and restoration of diverse aquatic habitats, including emergent, open water, scrub-shrub, wet meadow, and forested wetlands, streams, and riparian corridors. Through recreational, educational, and scientific opportunities presented by the mitigation sites integrated into each park district, the public can participate in wetland habitat protection.
The Hondros Ohio Agricultural Mitigation Bank is centrally located in Delaware County, Ohio, within the Upper Scioto River watershed on an approximately 100-acre property, historically used for agricultural purposes. The property contains an unnamed ditch, which flows through the property for almost 2,500 linear feet. It ultimately flows into Hoover Reservoir, a public drinking water reservoir for the City of Columbus. An extensive network of agricultural tile drains the property’s significant degree of hydric and poorly drained soils. The goal of the mitigation bank is to restore this property to a more natural state, enhancing existing or creating new wetland habitats.
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The wetland restoration at the Hondros Ohio Mitigation Bank will be implemented with grant funding provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This funding is the second USDA NRCS grant that Ohio has received for agricultural wetland mitigation. All wetland mitigation credits generated from the Hondros Ohio Agricultural Mitigation Bank will be reserved exclusively for agricultural producers that need to maintain eligibility or resolve compliance issues under the wetland conservation provisions of the Food Security Act (F.S.A.) (16 U.S.C. §3801 et seq.).
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Mitigation credit pricing and the mitigation bank’s service area are still being finalized. However, we anticipate that most mitigation credits will be priced under $20,000 per credit. We intend to provide discounted mitigation credit pricing as an incentive for those who qualify as historically underserved agricultural producers to make their use of the program affordable. Wetland mitigation credits will be sold in tenth-acre increments.
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The Hondros Ohio Agricultural Mitigation Bank will result in a fully restored site that will provide diverse wetland and upland buffer habitats for various plant and animal species. The project will also greatly enhance water quality flowing into a direct tributary to Hoover Reservoir, an important drinking water source for the citizens of Columbus.
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Agricultural producers who propose to mitigate eligible wetland impacts should request a wetland determination from their local USDA Farm Service Agency. The NRCS point of contact for mitigation eligibility is Nick Schell, NRCS State Biologist, who can be reached at nick.schell@oh.usda.gov. After the NRCS completes a certified wetland and eligibility determination, they will develop a separate mitigation agreement for the proposed purchase of credits.
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If you have questions about the Hondros Ohio Agricultural Mitigation Bank project or wetland mitigation credit availability, you may contact Neal Hess at nhess@conservationrealtygroup.com or Charlie Reffitt at creffitt@hondros-co.com.
Hondros Ohio Agricultural Mitigation Bank
