Establishing a mitigation site on public lands can be a difficult complex task by itself. Establishing an ILF Program using public lands is like hurdling a mountain. In October of 2020, the Corps approved the use of the Colorado Western Slope ILF program, sponsored by the National Forest Foundation. This program establishes a compensatory tool for wetland and stream mitigation on land managed by US Forest Service within western Colorado. This presentation will provide the background and legal framework for establishing the program. It will discuss how the IRT in collaboration with the sponsor accomplished the hurdles of long-term protection, establishing a fee schedule, ensuring sustainable water assurances, service area determination, the creation of a compensatory planning framework within different forests, and more.
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