 San Pedro Bay Mitigation Bank |
San Pedro Bay Mitigation Bank (SPBMB) is located in Taylor County, Florida in the heart of Florida's Big Bend. This 6,745 +/- acre site has been state and federally permitted for up to 1,079.45 freshwater wetland mitigation credits. The restoration and enhancement plan will take place in three phases.
The historic vegetative communities and hydrology of the SPBMB site have been changed by extensive silviculture activities. Primarily by: 1) the excavation of a ditch network that facilitates surface drainage. 2) construction of access roads that also serve as hydrologic barriers, and 3) replacement of native shrub bog mosaic communities with slash pine plantations. Additionally, ongoing suppression of natural fire patterns has affected vegetative communities.
The primary objective is to restore the hydrologic and vegetation characteristics of the 6,700 acre site to its historical levels by incorporating the following activities:
Silviculture activities will cease once slash pine removal is complete. Ditch plugs and low water crossings will be used to restore natural hydrological conditions. This will restore broad sheet flows across much or the SPBMB area, thus increasing the natural hydro-period. These activities are expected to yield a shrub bog/marsh mosaic across approximately 90% of the site and an improved natural forest community across 5% of the site.
These restoration activities will also improve wildlife habitat conditions by increasing the amount of aquatic wetland habitat and the quality of foraging, denning, and nesting habitats.
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