FORGING THE LINKS: THE REPORT OF A POLICY STUDY ON CREATED WETLANDS FOR THE WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

This research project examined the activities at the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to mitigate losses of wetlands on 33 sites governed by permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, through 1995. Several concerns defined the reasons WSDOT commissioned this study, including the rapid growth in the number of sites, uneven and unpredictable biological performances of the sites, and highly diverse expectations from regulators. The major outcomes include (1) recommendations to establish a coherent Mitigation Program within WSDOT; (2) suggestions for setting objectives, criteria, and standards; (3) methodologies to track all aspects of costs; and (4) revisions in monitoring methods and the monitoring report. Specific research findings are organized within five key categories that provide challenges to the ability of the WSDOT to engage in successful mitigation: political, policy, fiscal, organizational, and biological. Recommendations include defining objectives for compensatory mitigation as specific wetland functions; establishing consistent methodology and coordination among pre-impact assessment, mitigation design, and monitoring; coordinating between mitigation design and construction; establishing methods for evaluation of mitigation costs and linking this knowledge to biological performance; using monitoring data to formulate standards of success for new mitigation projects; and developing the Monitoring Report into a document for evaluating and learning about mitigation.

• Corporate Authors:

  Evergreen State College, Olympia

  Graduate Program in Environmental Studies
  Olympia, WA  United States  98505

  Washington State Department of Transportation

  Transportation Building, 310 Maple Park Avenue SE, P.O. Box 47300
  Olympia, WA  United States  98504-7300

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Perkins, J
  • Murphy, R
  • Jones, L E
  • Pratt, R
  • Savage, M
• Publication Date: 1997-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 213 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Administration; Cost accounting; Economic policy; Environmental impacts; Living things; Losses; Monitoring; Policy; Political factors; Recommendations; Reports; Standards; Traffic mitigation; Wetlands
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mitigation
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Old TRIS Terms: Biological factors; Fiscal policies
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Economics; Environment; Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Research; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00738811
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: WA-RD 433.1, Research Report
• Contract Numbers: GCA 0003
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 1 1997 12:00AM