A team from Wildlands recently provided a guided field trip of the Fremont Landing Conservation Bank for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Howard Brown (Sacramento River Basin Chief) and Maura Moody (Fisheries Biologist) headed up the 19 NMFS staff members that joined from the Sacramento and Santa Rosa field offices. Led by 6 Wildlands staff members, the two hour visit included an overview of the Bank along with a walking tour of the site itself.
The Fremont Landing Conservation Bank is one of three active NMFS-approved fish conservation banks operated by Wildlands in the Sacramento region. Projects which are required to consult with NMFS and need compensatory mitigation for impacts to listed salmonid species within the anadromous reaches of Central Valley Rivers are eligible to use the Bank’s credits. The 100-acre Bank is located at the confluence of the Feather and Sacramento Rivers in Yolo County, California and was constructed in the summer/fall of 2012.
The group was also introduced to Wildlands’ adjacent mitigation sites, the River Ranch VELB Conservation Bank, Swainson’s hawk preserves, and Wetland Mitigation Bank.
A majority of the NMFS team had not seen the site and greatly appreciated the opportunity.
Our next agency site tour takes place Thursday, March 27th at the River Ranch Wetland Mitigation Bank in Yolo County. Wildlands will be leading a tour for 40 members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) of the newly constructed wetlands bank.
