A threetiered framework to select prioritize an

Authors: Michael P Strager James T Anderson Joseph D Osbourne Ronald Fortney

Publish Date: 2010/06/29

Volume: 19, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-18

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Abstract

Wetland and stream mitigation programs originated to offset the unavoidable impacts to wetlands and streams from activities related to development Until recently most mitigation in the United States and globally was done on a casebycase basis with site selection based on availability Today systematic programs that choose sites based on structural and ecological characteristics that give an indication of the feasibility of the site for wetland and stream mitigation banking are necessary This paper outlines a threelevel framework to select prioritize and evaluate potential wetland and stream mitigation banking sites The framework was tested on three tendigit hydrologic unit code watersheds in West Virginia that were in three different physiographic regions and near proposed future road construction projects Level 1 included a Geographic Information System GIS based analysis of watersheds and appropriate spatial data Level 2 was a field reconnaissance survey of sites using evaluation criteria weighted with the pairwise comparison Analytical Hierarchy Process Level 3 was an onsite evaluation of the highly ranked sites to verify the modeling approach Results showed successful selection of suitable sites for combined wetland and stream mitigation banking We found the framework to be an efficient and nonsubjective way to identify and prioritize wetland and stream mitigation banking sites and has direct applications for other states or regionsThis research project was sponsored by the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and the West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways We thank Neal Carte and Norse Angus West Virginia Division of Highways for providing data contacts support and for reviewing this manuscript We recognize the following individuals for assistance with field data collection interpretation and technical support Collin Balcombe Jerri Bonner Scott Copen Donald Gray Mark Hepner Jeff Keaton Seth Lemley and Ryan Ward We also sincerely appreciate the comments and suggestions provided by three anonymous reviewers

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