• A ground slope of 5:1, from 0.4 meters above the ordinary high water line to uplands, 

 supports weedy plant species that are undesirable members of the wedand plant 

 community. 



The results have strong implications for the design and management of wetlands. Specifically, the 

 area below the ordinary saturated soil zone but above ordinary open water may be final graded to > 5: 1 

 slopes. The area above the ordinary saturated soil zone should rise at its angle of repose. 



These specifications will likely minimize what I call the Goldielocks phenomenon, that is a site is just 

 wet enough to support both desirable hydrophytes and facultative weedy plant species, but not wet 

 enough to exclude the weedy species. 



i 



The analogy to Goldielocks goes something like this. Goldielocks - a weed to the Bear family - found 



Papa Bear's porridge too hot and Baby Bear's porridge too cold, so she spilt. But Mama Bear's I, 



ponidge was just right so she hung around to the dismay of the Bear family. [ 



Finally, my research suggests that the diversity of wedand vegetation cover types increases with the 

 presence of discontinuities on site. They include the intrusion on the wetland of high fiow channels of i 



an adjacent river, the presence of downed timber, and localized areas of erosion. Selective placement ^ 



of downed timber within and adjacent to a wetiand may be of considerable benefit to wetland creation 

 projects. 



In summary, wetland banking may be appropriate when traditional mitigation measures are 

 impracticable or infeasible, in-lond mitigation is impossible to accomplish on-site, the risk of a paper 

 plan for mitigation comes with such ecological risk that success cannot be assured, the significant 

 cumulative impacts of individually minor wedand losses require mitigation, or project approval must 

 be expedited. 



Wetiand banking is not appropriate when traditional mitigation measures are available. They are, in 

 order of desirability, developing alternative roadway locations that avoid wedand impacts, use of 

 thoughtful roadway designs that minimizing damage to wetiands, restoring impacted wetlands to their 

 original condition, or coiiq)ensating with the development of replacement wetknds in-kind and on-site. 



A number of factors contributed to the successful completion of an agreement and the productivity of 

 the team. Perhaps the most important include: 



• Inviting and actively encouraging participation by all of the players with a statutory 

 interest in wetiands. 



• Basing team decisions on a consensus of opinion that assured all persons would be 

 heard and all concerns would be addressed, rather than a mere majori^. 



• Open negotiation that recognized that there was more than one right solution to a 

 concern. 



• A bail out clause that allows any participant in the agreement to withdraw with notice. 



• Acceptance that the existing agreement is a woricing dociraient that will be refined as 

 we gather greater experience. 



• Recognition of the missions of each agency and for their policies, rules, and 

 regulations. 



• And, realization that none of us are as smart as all of us. 



