State and/or federal authorities often require compensation for impacts to regulate wetlands or habitat in the form of mitigation or replacement. Wetland mitigation usually involves conversion of upland habitat to wetland, but may also include restoration of disturbed wetlands. Mitigation for habitats other than wetlands often includes protection of lands with features vital to the existence of one or more listed species affected by a project.

Monitoring of a created mitigation site is usually required by state and/or federal permits. Monitoring periods typically last three to five years, during which, wetland vegetation, habitat, and hydrology are observed, measured, and analyzed. The annual monitoring report allows the regulatory agencies to evaluate the success of the wetland mitigation.

Bighorn Consulting introduces a procedural approach to handling wetland and habitat mitigation. This approach is designed to analyze mitigation at each step and determine the appropriate level of mitigation:

• avoiding the impacts by not taking certain actions
• minimizing the impacts by limiting the degree of an action or modifying the plan
• rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitation, or restoring the affected environment
• reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations
• compensating for the impact by enhancing, replacing, or providing substitute resources.

• mitigation site selection
• hydrogeological and soils analysis
• analysis of potential protected species, waterfowl, wildlife, and fish habitat
• vegetation planting plans
• construction specifications
• proposed monitoring plan
• mitigation reports including comprehensive field investigation and documentation of vegetation establishment, habitat conditions, and hydrology

• oak woodland restoration, creation
• vernal pool restoration, creation, preservation
• wetland restoration, creation