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SAN RAFAEL • SAN DIEGO • DENVER • FORT BRAGG www.wra-ca.com (415) 454-8868 1
(415) 454-8868SAN RAFAEL  SAN DIEGO  DENVER  FORT BRAGG
National Military Fish and Wildlife Association
Optimizing Off-Site Land
Protection: Achieving Mitigation
while Reducing Encroachment

Partnerships through Mitigation
• Multiple ways to work together
– Mitigation and Conservation Banks
– Single-user Banks
– Permittee Responsible Mitigation
– Recovery Crediting
– Mitigation Planning
• Shared costs and risks, creative
financing, external due diligence and
manpower
• Cost effective to pool mitigation at
banks
– Ecosystem and multi-species approach
– Multiple credit types under multiple regulatory
programs

Challenges
• Most permitting
and construction
timelines do not
allow for optimal
mitigation
MILCON appropriations 5 years,
O&M 1 year
2 to 7 years for bank approval
Credits released overtime

Guidance
• Watershed approach – 2008
Compensatory Mitigation Rule
– Continuation of functions over
time in changing landscape
– Important species
– Habitat loss and conversion
trends
– Sources of watershed impairment
– Current development trends

Guidance
• 2003 USFWS guidance
on Conservation Banking
– Recovery Plans
– Reduce habitat loss and
fragmentation
– Conserve population
– Surrounding land-use

Guidance
DoD Instruction 4715.03
• Readiness, sustainability, cost-
effectiveness
• Integration with recovery goals
• Multiple species/ ecosystems
• Watershed-based approach
• Off-site banking through sound
conservation planning

Site Optimization Model

Suitability Analysis
What is a suitability
analysis?
– Combines datasets to
identify the best
locations for an activity
– Allows for preference
to be given to
particular site
conditions

Suitability Analysis
• Datasets are selected based on the
objectives
• Each dataset is ranked based on optimal
conditions for purpose(s) and converted
to raster
• Each raster is weighted based on
importance
• ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Weighted Overlay
or Weighted Sum
• Single raster output identifying priority
areas and parcels

Location of Study Area
To demonstrate how the
tool works, this is a
hypothetical study area
of a 25 mile buffer
around an imaginary
military installation
south of Sacramento.

Model Builder

Model Builder
Included Data Layers: Species occurrence
Historical Impacts
Existing mitigation supply
Housing Density
Critical Habitat
Land Cover

Species Occurrence
cnddb_1
Value
0
5

Existing mitigation supply is relevant when considering where to site
additional mitigation projects. A service area is the geographic area in
which a bank is approved to provide mitigation credits.
This graphic shows the various service areas overlapping our study area.
Again, we took a very simple approach here and simply looked at the
number of available service areas and ranked the areas
underrepresented by banks as a higher value.
Typically, banks will have separate service areas per resource or credit
type which you would want to tease out. Also, the banks may be a
different stages of development and the available credits can vary
dramatically.
This shows you thought he type of analysis that can be done to look at
what banks already service the installation.
Approved Banks

Approved Banks
Legend
Study Area
Name
Burdell Ranch Mitigation Bank Service Area
Clay Station Bank Service Area
Elsie Gridley Overall Service Area
North Suisun Mitigation Bank Service Area
Van Vleck Mitigation Bank Service Area
Cosumnes Mitigaton Bank Service Area

Mitigation Supply
Legend
bank_supply_1
Value
1
2
3
4
5

Historical Wetland Impacts
Legend
orms_1
Value
0
1
2
3
5
For private bank sponsors, the decision of
whether to invest in a commercial bank is
largely based on analysis of supply and
demand.
The Corps permit tracking database allows us
to calculate where acres of impacts have
been the highest by sub-watershed.

Historical Wetland Impacts
Legend
orms_1
Value
0
1
2
3
5

Housing Density
Legend
housing
Value
1
2
3
4
5
Housing density is a measure of
encroachment. In this example, we looked
only at the housing density for 2030 but we
could have looked at trends in changing
density.
To further address encroachment other
datasets for consideration are:
• Population growth
• Future land use maps
• Zoning
• Access to amenities

Housing Density
Legend
housing
Value
1
2
3
4
5

Critical Habitat
cnddb_1
Value
0
5
Our study area contained designated critical
habitat for Delta Smelt, vernal pool fairy
shrimp, California tiger salamander, and
california red-legged frog. These species
were given priority.

Critical Habitat
cnddb_1
Value
0
5

Calveg
Legend
calveg_1
Value
1
2
3
4
5
5
Finally, Calveg provided data on land cover
and vegetation and we ranked it based on the
best opportunities for wetland restoration,
though we could have ranked it for differing
habitat requirements.

Calveg
Legend
calveg_1
Value
1
2
3
4
5
5

Overall Site Suitability
Legend
Value
High : 37
Low : 2

Optimal Parcels
Parcels over 100 acres
High : 37
Low : 2
The output is a catalogue of parcels over 100
acres with a ranking for each input and an
overall cumulative score. The score tells us
which parcels provide the greatest value for
achieving mitigation and encroachment goals.
We can also filter the output by ownership to
target particular classes.

Optimal Parcels
Parcels over 100 acres
High : 37
Low : 2

Tejon Ranch
Photo credit: TejonRanch.com

Tejon Ranch
Photo credit: TejonRanch.com
Tejon ranch is the largest contiguous
private land holding at 270,000 acres.
Our work at Tejon Ranch demonstrates how this
model can be applied at different scales and in real
life. This is an example of where suitability
modeling was used to plan development and
conservation on the Tejon Ranch.

The Trust for Public Land and Tejon
Ranch reached an agreement to
acquire 100,000 acres. WRA
conducted a conservation planning
study to identify most ecologically
significant lands. That data was
then viewed together with
compatible public trails and
recreational lands.
A Vision for the Future

Conservation Priorities
• Watershed Integrity
• Biodiversity
• Landscape Connectivity
• Special Status Plants
• Special Status Animals
• Regionally Underrepresented
Habitats
Photo credit: Dean Heuber

Conservation Priorities
The study was conducted as a
stepwise process that identified
the conservation priorities and
goals. The model was vetted
through a science advisory
panel to determine weighting
and ranking and analysis.
The model was verified and a
report was provided.

Example: Tejon Ranch

Cons
• Limited by data availability and
quality
• Ranking is subjective
• Site selection is often
opportunistic
• Still have to ground truth
• Adaptable to many uses
• Allows you to analyze and visualize
multiple datasets at once
• Provides a quantifiable and
defensible decision making tool
• Fulfills regulatory requirements for
siting
• Facilitates advanced planning
• Optimizes conditions for multiple
goals
Pros

Opportunity
• Share information encroachment priorities
– ABUB Zones
– Key encroachment challenges
– Key landowners
• Increase collaboration
– Site mitigation to achieve dual purposes
• Perform advanced planning based on
anticipated mitigation and encroachment
needs
– Encourage mitigation development in those
areas

Questions?
SAN RAFAEL • SAN DIEGO • DENVER • FORT BRAGG www.wra-ca.com (415) 454-8868
Contact Us

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