Through a collaboration with the Conservation Fund and a private investment group, TLC now protects over 19,000 acres of land in East Texas as the largest mitigation bank in Texas and one of the largest in the country. A mitigation bank is a wetland, stream, or other aquatic area that has been restored, and preserved for the purpose of providing compensation for unavoidable impacts to other aquatic resources.
The property is situated along the Neches River in Angelina, Jasper, and Polk Counties, and provides a wildlife corridor that connects the Davy Crocket and Angelina National Forests. This unique area forms the eastern edge of the northern geographic extent of the Big Thicket. This property includes more than 13,000 acres of bottomland wetland forest, supplemented by scrub/shrub wetlands, emergent wetlands, and areas of open water. The restoration of the bottomland hardwood forest ecosystem will occur through the removal of exotic and undesirable species, followed by the reintroduction of desirable native tree species throughout the property. The map below gives a general location and a sense of size. To put in perspective the Davy Crockett National Forest is 160,000 acres, and the Angelina National Forest is 153,000 acres. The land contains over 45 miles of the Neches River .
The preserve contains a wetland complex that consists of forested wetland, scrub/shrub wetland, emergent wetland, and open water. This unique part of Texas is teaming with life, and represents a major wildlife corridor between the two national forests. While this isn’t our biggest easement, it is definitely one of our most important to date.
The consulting firm PBS&J is overseeing the restoration work and administration of banking credits. For more information on the mitigation banking credits please go to Pineywoods Mitigation Bank website.
