Wetlands provide flood control, water filtration, erosion control, biochemical and nutrient cycling. Theses habitats are critical to the lifecycles of fish, furbearers, and birds, which contribute to our region’s economy. However, Development in this wet climate inevitably results in dredging and filling of some wetlands.

Under the US Army Corps of Engineers permitting rules, developers must mitigate project impacts to wetlands. Minimizing impacts or restoring nearby degraded wetlands is preferable. But developers can also mitigate wetland impacts by simply paying fees-in-lieu of mitigation. These “in-lieu fees” can be used to fund long-term conservation of intact wetlands. They help keep vital natural areas in-place as our communities and infrastructure are being built and upgraded.

Under our 1997 agreement with the Army Corps, the Southeast Alaska Land Trust is eligible to receive fees-in-lieu. Resource experts from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Marine Fisheries, and Alaska’s Fish & Game recommend this funding for selected projects. SEALTrust’s preference is to reinvest in-lieu fees in the affected community. Resource agencies are more interested in putting this conservation money to work immediately, so often give priority to projects that are ready to go, regardless of their regional location.