In our view Dec. 12: Good Banking News

Not to bring up a sore subject, but it’s been a perfectly awful year for banks, right? Well, not exactly, if you’re talking about the kind of bank that has no stately building, no vault, no bankers’ hours and no free toasters for new customers. We’re talking about wetland banks, and about the only thing they have in common with traditional banks is a savings account. Wetland banks are operated by private companies such as Habitat Bank Inc. of Woodinville. They’re in the business of acquiring undeveloped land and then making a profit off that land in the strangest of ways: making sure it stays undeveloped.

Typically, developers are required by governments to fund and even construct mitigation projects to lessen the environmental impacts of their projects. Those mitigation projects are piecemeal, on-site where the development occurs. Often those projects are so small or so poorly designed that they have little or no impact. In 2002, the state Department of Ecology reported that only 13 percent of such projects were considered fully successful, and fewer than half were even moderately successful. An updated report in 2005 was almost as discouraging.

Enter wetland banks, a concept that arrived on the scene a few years ago. It allows developers to buy credits (at sites elsewhere) toward their required mitigation. There is a valid concern that developers are allowed to shift their responsibilities to distant projects often miles away, but the wetland bank projects likely will have a better chance than smaller projects of coalescing into a permanent boost to the environment.

A good example is unfolding on Lower River Road west of downtown Vancouver. As Erik Robinson reported in Thursday’s Columbian, 160 acres of the old Rufener Dairy property now owned by the Port of Vancouver are set to become the first certified wetland bank in Southwest Washington. You can easily see the property across the road from the port headquarters, just west of the Rufener farm buildings. The site includes native wetland plants in low-lying areas, a forest that supports songbirds, and a pond area frequently visited by waterfowl. Through Jan. 5, the state DOE is taking public comments on the proposed Columbia River Wetland Mitigation Bank. For more information or to make a comment, visit www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/wetlands/mitigation/banking/public-notices.html.

Every Clark County resident should hope this wetland bank is approved and succeeds, because it will provide permanent protection of a key portion of the Vancouver Lake lowlands. With all the development occurring in many other parts of Clark County (more so before and after the current economic slump), it will be good to see even developers move toward preserving natural areas.

Out of the goodness of their hearts? Hardly. Buying credits in wetland banks allows developers to avoid many costs involving permits, land acquisition and restoration. In essence, they pay someone else to handle everything.

And in this case, handle it well, if current plans play out. Habitat Bank proposes to create 27 acres of new wetlands on the property, plant native trees and shrubs and enhance forested areas and upland floodplains. As Robinson reported, in a decade or so the wetland bank company wants to turn the site over to Ducks Unlimited with a permanent conservation easement stamped on the property record.

It’s almost impossible to find this many winners in any interaction between environmentalists and developers. And the port is allowed to further manifest — right across the road from the offices — its commitment to help protect the environment even as the port operation expands.

Kudos to all involved, now and in years to come.