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Mitigating Circumstances

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Bill Casey, who operates a Tampa Bay mitigation bank, walks through waters of the Andrews Creek tidal basin near Cockroach Bay Inlet.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: November 26, 2008

Updated:

SUN CITY - For soggy land that cleanses polluted runoff and attracts endangered wood storks, white ibis, bald eagles and bobcats, developers will pay $100,000 an acre.

And they don't get to keep it. It's for the birds and the crabs and the fish nurseries that benefit from it.

It's mitigation land - manmade wetlands created to replace swampland destroyed for development elsewhere.

Entrepreneur Bill Casey and partners Beverly Birkitt of Birkitt Environmental Services, Jamie Scarola and Rob Greene are creating a 161-acre wetland mitigation bank off Cockroach Bay Road in which developers can buy credits in repentance for destroying marshes in other locations.

Credits for the salt marsh are expected to be up for sale within weeks. Casey said he plans to sell 110 credits in phases.

The Tampa Bay Mitigation Bank is the only wetlands mitigation bank in the county and one of only two in the Southwest Florida Water Management District's 16-county area. It is permitted by the county, the state and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"This land was bought for just this purpose," said Casey, as he sauntered along the newly planted edge of a tidal creek that connects to Andrews Creek and Cockroach Bay.

He and Birkitt said they're amazed at the number of red mangrove pods that moved in - once the area was contoured - and planted themselves in the white sandy soil along the edge of the creek.

Casey said he has studied restoration work done in the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve and in other preserves to ensure that his project will fit in to existing wildlife corridors and river systems.

The birds seem to like what he's doing.

Long-legged lesser yellowlegs, killdeer and ibis wander among and around the young trees and grasses that will help stabilize the shoreline.

Casey and his crew are finishing up planting on the saltwater portion of the project, and once the mitigation bank is bonded for perpetual maintenance, he will begin selling credits.

The freshwater wetlands will likely be finished in early 2009, Birkitt said.

Wetlands are protected by government regulation because they soak up floodwater, buffer against hurricanes, filter out pollution and provide valuable wildlife habitat.

The Bush administration announced requirements in April that would encourage developers to compensate for the destruction of wetlands or streams by paying for the restoration or creation of wetlands elsewhere - in mitigation banks.

There is concern among some environmentalists that mitigation banks will just make destruction of wetlands easier and more affordable.

But South Shore environmental activist Mariella Smith sees the pros and the cons.

"There are times when damage is unavoidable," Smith said. And unless the public purchases the wetlands, it takes a private landowner to preserve or restore wetlands by creating a mitigation bank, she said.

The down side of such a setup is that the mitigation bank is usually a good distance from the damage that is done. The community that loses the wetland loses the benefit, such as flood protection. And small freshwater wetlands serve as feeding grounds for wading birds that fly miles to forage for food for their young, Smith said.

"In the plus column, trying to preserve tiny wetlands, instead of whole ecosystems, doesn't always work," Smith said. "Ideally, don't destroy the wetland. When they have to be destroyed, which is a last resort, mitigation banking is an option if they can't mitigate on site or in the same watershed."

And if it can be done right, she said, Casey is the man to do it.

"Bill Casey lives here, and his heart is in the right place," Smith said. "He's committed to it."

Here's how it works :

If a developer destroys a 1-acre wetland, he is required to replace it or purchase one credit from the mitigation bank, said Environmental Protection Commission Wetlands director Bob Stetler.

"It's a one-for-one swap, categorized either as freshwater or saltwater," Stetler said.

Since the Tampa Bay Mitigation Bank was set up, the system has changed slightly, and mitigation rules are now based on whether a wetland is low-functioning or high-functioning, Stetler said. So, if a developer destroys a low-functioning acre, he may only be required to replace it or mitigate it with a half-acre of high-functioning wetland.

Brimming with mangroves, wading birds and fish nursery grounds, the new wetlands provide wildlife habitat and cleanse the stormwater runoff from local roadways and development before it reaches Tampa Bay.

As part of the preparation of the land, Casey restored Andrews Creek, which connects to Cockroach Bay and eventually Tampa Bay.

"Thousands of wading birds are already using the freshwater areas," Birkitt said. "The only thing that really needs to happen is exotic species control."

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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