Wetland mitigation banking
Wisconsin DNR Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Mitigation Banks
The DNR received a prospectus by Heartland Ecological Group, Inc. on behalf of the prospective Sponsor, Workman Investments LLC, to establish the Mill Creek Wetland Mitigation Bank. The proposed bank site is located in Sections 29 and 30, Township 06 North, Range 20 East, City of New Berlin, Waukesha County. The site is approximately 102.64 acres in size and currently consists of wet meadow, hardwood swamp, and an abandoned tree farm. The bank is located in the Upper Fox HUC-8 watershed of the Upper Illinois bank service area. The Sponsor is proposing to generate 47.66 wetland acre credits by disabling tile and ditches to reestablish and rehabilitate fresh wet meadow, enhance existing fresh wet meadow and hardwood swamp, and restore upland buffer to mesic prairie.
The DNR also received a prospectus addendum by KCI Technologies Inc. to establish the Little La Crosse River Headwaters Stream and Wetland Mitigation Bank to compensate for unavoidable impacts to wetlands authorized by federal and state permits. The proposed bank site is located in Section 5, Township 15 North, Range 03 West, Village of Melvina, Monroe County. The site is approximately 43.9 acres in size and currently consists of agricultural field, conserved land in a riparian buffer along the Little La Crosse River, and degraded shrub swamp wetlands. The bank is located in the La Crosse – Pine HUC-8 watershed of the Upper Mississippi Black Root bank service area. The Sponsor is proposing to generate 47.08 wetland acre credits and 389 function feet stream credits by disabling tile and ditches to re-establish and rehabilitate shrub-carr and wooded swamp, establish a vegetated buffer, and restore 1,456 linear feet of stream.
The DNR is inviting written comments on these projects. Please send comments to Chelsey Lundeen at the contact information below by the close of business on May 23, 2025.
Contact for comments:
Chelsey Lundeen
101 N Ogden Rd, STE A
Peshtigo, WI 54157
Mitigate permitted wetland impacts with mitigation bank credits.
Mitigation News
Service Areas
Mitigation banking is divided into 12 watersheds that serve as the areas within which banks may sell credits and be considered "in service area". If mitigation bank credits are not available in the service area, further guidance on how to determine credit ratios can be found in the 2013 Guidelines for Wetland Compensatory Mitigation in Wisconsin (Version 1), under Chapter 3.
Wetland mitigation bank service area map
Prospective Mitigation Bank Sponsors
Any individual or entity may establish and operate a wetland mitigation bank in Wisconsin. Wetland Mitigation banks are regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the DNR.
Listed below are links to statutes, code, guidance, and map tools that may be helpful to a prospective bank sponsor.
Historic Credit Sales
Resources for site guidance
- Starting a Wetland Mitigation Bank: What You Need to Know
- Wetland Mitigation Bank Review Payment Verification
- USACE St. Paul District Site Selection Criteria for Compensatory Mitigation Proposals
- USACE St. Paul District Mitigation Site Prospectus Requirements
- USACE St. Paul District Mitigation Site Compensation Site Plan Requirements
- Surface Water Data Viewer - use to identify sites with wetland mitigation potential
Resources for regulations
- USACE St. Paul District Mitigation Web Page - search for guidance documents, public notices, and regulatory updates
- 2013 Guidelines for Wetland Compensatory Mitigation in Wisconsin (Version 1) Chapter 6
- Draft Outline for Mitigation Guidelines Update
- 281.36, Wis. Stats. - wetland permitting and mitigation statutes in Wisconsin
- Chapter NR 350, Wis. Adm. Code - compensatory mitigation process and requirements
- USACE 33 CFR part 332 - the 2008 Army Corps and EPA federal compensatory mitigation rule
