We developed the Park Creek Station Wetland Mitigation Bank to preserve, restore and create wetlands as compensatory mitigation credits in advance of unavoidable impacts to wetlands or other aquatic resources.
The service area for the 240-acre bank stretches along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, from Denver to the Wyoming border. More than 1 mile of Park Creek winds through the property, which is in the Cache la Poudre watershed.
The mitigation bank consolidates small, fragmented wetland mitigation projects into a large, contiguous preserve, which has greater ecological value. Restoration and creation of these wetlands provides a variety of benefits by promoting the conservation of landscape-level wetland diversity, including the functional uplift of multiple hydrogeomorphic and vegetative communities.
Our team incorporated current restoration design concepts and agricultural controls to restore a mosaic of uplands and wetlands. We used advanced hydrologic analysis to evaluate groundwater flow and seasonal fluctuation in the water table to support creation and restoration of emergent wetlands. Specific design elements include management and monitoring of existing vegetation, removal of invasive species, replanting with native species, and removal of grazing pressures.