LandMitigationBanksEncourageConservation

Mitigation banks, which allow landowners to sell credits for preserving ecologically sensitive land as an offset for third-party development of other areas, represent a new way to encourage conservation. "Traditionally, landowners have had little incentive to preserve areas with high ecological value as these usually have a low financial value. However, mitigation banks give landowners an economic reason to consider conservation where the more traditional conservation easements — which are priced according to market value — do not offer reasonable returns," says Jeffrey T. Selser, a partner in the Real Estate, Environmental and Timberlands Practice Groups at Verrill Dana, LLP (Portland, ME). Selser counsels some of the country's largest landowners on issues related to landownership, conservation and development, including environmental matters. He is currently working on a mitigation bank project in Texas that is one of the first to assess mitigation credits based upon the full ecological value of the lands being preserved versus those being development, rather than the more common acre-for-acre or market-value assessments. "Mitigation banks conserve forever these high ecological value resources as they remove all development rights from that land. While providing landowners with an incentive to conserve sensitive areas, mitigation banks also shift the financial cost of preservation from state and federal governments or conservation groups to the developers. Providing economic incentives for landowners is the only way to get meaningful conservation on private lands," says Selser. He is available to discuss mitigation banks as a tool for landowners, developers and conservation efforts. [05/15/2008] News Contact: Kevin Aschenbrenner Email: kaschenbrenner@jaffepr.com Phone: 250-294-8431