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TxDOT is preserving, restoring, enhancing and creating
wetlands in all sections of the state. One of the ways is through wetlands
banking projects, such as the Anderson Tract in the Tyler District, TxDOT's
first wetlands bank.
The Anderson Tract gives TxDOT a wetlands bank for projects
within the Atlanta, Lufkin, Paris and Tyler districts that also fall within the
Sabine, Neches, Sulphur or Cypress river basins. All reasonable and feasible
methods are used to avoid damage to wetlands at a project site. But when it
can't be avoided, wetlands taken at a project site will be counted against the
2,243-acre bank at the ratio of four acres subtracted from the bank for each one
acre impacted on site.
TxDOT expects the wetlands bank to serve the region for
more than 15 years, saving time and money by providing a more efficient and
effective permitting process.
The wetlands bank also preserves a section of
fast-disappearing bottom land hardwoods, both for wildlife habitat and for
recreation. Local groups and citizens supported the plan, brought about by
agreement between six federal and state agencies. Had the land not been
preserved, it is known that timber companies planned to acquire it for clear
cutting, destroying this valuable habitat for a half century or more.
TxDOT also has two additional wetlands banks, the
3,552-acre Coastal Bottomlands Mitigation Bank in the Houston District, which
also serves the Yoakum District, and the 3,343-acre Blue Elbow Swamp in the
Beaumont District. |
