Welcome to the Web site of the Machine Lake Mitigation Bank. We are excited to present to the public one of the premier Wetland Mitigation Banks in the West. This site is located west of Brigham City, Utah, alongside one of the largest Federal Migratory Bird Refuges in the country the National Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
The purpose of this Web site is to educate you a little more regarding the function and reason for the existence of a Wetland Mitigation Banking System. We hope you will watch with us as our actual mitigation site is improved and restored to become one of the West’s premier wetland areas. We are using advanced technology coupled with highly skilled engineers to return this degraded site to its former glory.
The Mitigation Banking System allows Developers, Municipalities, Cities, States or Federal Agencies that are going to negatively impact wetlands to purchase credits to offset those impacts resulting in compliance with the “no net loss” doctrine for wetland preservation. Banking allows for these entities to impact, on a small scale, isolated wetlands of minimal or degraded use and transfers those impacts, via the purchase of “wetland credits,” to a larger site where wetlands have been created, restored and enhanced. Banking allows for a larger complex to be preserved in perpetuity that will be better utilized by wildlife and better able to store runoff and recharge aquifers that may be in the area. It has been established that larger ecosystems function to a much greater degree than smaller isolated wetlands in the middle of a subdivision or city.
Too often we see small weed patches that were designated as wetlands in city environments and have since turned into dry weed patches that no longer function as a stand–alone wetland.
The Machine Lake Mitigation Bank is being developed to foster smart and efficient growth in Utah while enhancing the environment. The Machine Lake wetlands ecosystem will soon become one of the most productive wetlands in the region. The bank was approved by the United States Army Corp of Engineers in 2007 and began selling credits in 2008.