Wilson
07-07-2007, 10:43 PM
(also check out http://www.springcreekgreenway.org/)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/woodlands/news/4945903.html
July 5, 2007, 3:07PM
Program aims to spur preservation of Spring Creek Greenway
Project offers new option to developers for wetland mitigation efforts
By LAURA ISENSEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
A new program in the works for wetland mitigation could speed up preservation efforts for Spring Creek Greenway, the planned 12,000-acre park-and-trail system along Spring Creek.
Through the new program, developers and businesses in Montgomery and Harris counties whose projects impact wetlands can choose to pay the conservation nonprofit Legacy Land Trust a fee for wetland mitigation on Spring Creek Greenway. The "in-lieu fee" program, the first of its kind in the state, would give another option to developers, who often create a wetland area on their development site or fund a mitigation bank to offset negative wetland impact.
"It's less expensive for the developer and less time-consuming for the developer, but at the same time the ecological benefit is greater," said Jennifer Lorenz, executive director of Legacy Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization that has protected more than 5,000 acres of land in the Greater Houston area.
The program got the blessing of Montgomery County, one of its partners, at the July 2 Commissioners Court meeting.
It is expected to receive final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the end of the summer, Lorenz said.
In addition to the new wetland program, about $1 million for park improvements and plans for a new multipurpose community center next to the nature preserve signal progress for the Spring Creek Greenway.
Spring Creek Greenway has already reached the half-way mark toward its goal to span more than 30 miles from the Tomball area to Humble and become the largest park and trail greenway in the region, said Robert Collins, special counsel for Montgomery County Precinct 3.
Protecting wetlands
The new program is expected to benefit businesses as well as better protect wetlands and expand the greenway faster, Lorenz said.
Often developers create their own wetland mitigation on-site, which end up being more like green islands next to parking lots or shopping centers but not good wildlife habitats, she said.
"Wetlands are like the kidneys of the earth. Wetlands filter the water before it hits the stream before it hits the sea," she said.
Through the in-lieu fee program, business still meet environmental regulations while Legacy Land Trust will preserve, restore and enhance contiguous tracts of wetlands along Spring Creek Greenway, Lorenz said.
"This project will hopefully allow us to move a little bit faster on the Montgomery County side (of the greenway)," she said.
How it works
After receiving a per-acre fee from a business, the nonprofit conservation group would preserve a tract on the greenway with a conservation easement with the land owner, who would give up development rights, Lorenz said.
Legacy Land Trust also will restore the tract by taking out invasive plants and trees and enhance it with native plants like cypress trees, Lorenz said.
She said the fee will be less than on-site creation or a mitigation bank, which can cost as much as $18,000-22,000 an acre.
"This is an opportunity to bring different people's impacts together and put their mitigation sites altogether. By putting them altogether, we can have bigger sites that will function better and buffer each other," Collins said.
They also will be under one common management, he said.
Half a dozen businesses as well as the county administration are interested in participating in the new mitigation option, Collins said.
Park improvement
By next summer, the Spring Creek Greenway will have about $1 million in improvements, Collins said.
An agreement recently approved at Commissioners Court will facilitate a $1 million matching grant awarded in 2005 by Texas Parks and Wildlife to Harris and Montgomery counties, he said.
The park-related improvements will include trails, restrooms, pavilions, bike racks and picnic areas, Collins said.
Montgomery County Precinct 3 also plans to build a new multipurpose community center on Riley Fuzzel Road adjacent to the nature preserve. The new center, expected to include community meeting space, a nature center and law enforcement offices, will replace the Rayford Road Community Center, expected to go to public auction soon.
Several preserves and gateways to Spring Creek Greenway are already open, including the 25-acre Peckinpaugh Preserve on the east side of Riley Fuzzel Road bridge in Montgomery County.
"We're hoping it's a project that is never completely finished," Collins said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/woodlands/news/4945903.html
July 5, 2007, 3:07PM
Program aims to spur preservation of Spring Creek Greenway
Project offers new option to developers for wetland mitigation efforts
By LAURA ISENSEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
A new program in the works for wetland mitigation could speed up preservation efforts for Spring Creek Greenway, the planned 12,000-acre park-and-trail system along Spring Creek.
Through the new program, developers and businesses in Montgomery and Harris counties whose projects impact wetlands can choose to pay the conservation nonprofit Legacy Land Trust a fee for wetland mitigation on Spring Creek Greenway. The "in-lieu fee" program, the first of its kind in the state, would give another option to developers, who often create a wetland area on their development site or fund a mitigation bank to offset negative wetland impact.
"It's less expensive for the developer and less time-consuming for the developer, but at the same time the ecological benefit is greater," said Jennifer Lorenz, executive director of Legacy Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization that has protected more than 5,000 acres of land in the Greater Houston area.
The program got the blessing of Montgomery County, one of its partners, at the July 2 Commissioners Court meeting.
It is expected to receive final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the end of the summer, Lorenz said.
In addition to the new wetland program, about $1 million for park improvements and plans for a new multipurpose community center next to the nature preserve signal progress for the Spring Creek Greenway.
Spring Creek Greenway has already reached the half-way mark toward its goal to span more than 30 miles from the Tomball area to Humble and become the largest park and trail greenway in the region, said Robert Collins, special counsel for Montgomery County Precinct 3.
Protecting wetlands
The new program is expected to benefit businesses as well as better protect wetlands and expand the greenway faster, Lorenz said.
Often developers create their own wetland mitigation on-site, which end up being more like green islands next to parking lots or shopping centers but not good wildlife habitats, she said.
"Wetlands are like the kidneys of the earth. Wetlands filter the water before it hits the stream before it hits the sea," she said.
Through the in-lieu fee program, business still meet environmental regulations while Legacy Land Trust will preserve, restore and enhance contiguous tracts of wetlands along Spring Creek Greenway, Lorenz said.
"This project will hopefully allow us to move a little bit faster on the Montgomery County side (of the greenway)," she said.
How it works
After receiving a per-acre fee from a business, the nonprofit conservation group would preserve a tract on the greenway with a conservation easement with the land owner, who would give up development rights, Lorenz said.
Legacy Land Trust also will restore the tract by taking out invasive plants and trees and enhance it with native plants like cypress trees, Lorenz said.
She said the fee will be less than on-site creation or a mitigation bank, which can cost as much as $18,000-22,000 an acre.
"This is an opportunity to bring different people's impacts together and put their mitigation sites altogether. By putting them altogether, we can have bigger sites that will function better and buffer each other," Collins said.
They also will be under one common management, he said.
Half a dozen businesses as well as the county administration are interested in participating in the new mitigation option, Collins said.
Park improvement
By next summer, the Spring Creek Greenway will have about $1 million in improvements, Collins said.
An agreement recently approved at Commissioners Court will facilitate a $1 million matching grant awarded in 2005 by Texas Parks and Wildlife to Harris and Montgomery counties, he said.
The park-related improvements will include trails, restrooms, pavilions, bike racks and picnic areas, Collins said.
Montgomery County Precinct 3 also plans to build a new multipurpose community center on Riley Fuzzel Road adjacent to the nature preserve. The new center, expected to include community meeting space, a nature center and law enforcement offices, will replace the Rayford Road Community Center, expected to go to public auction soon.
Several preserves and gateways to Spring Creek Greenway are already open, including the 25-acre Peckinpaugh Preserve on the east side of Riley Fuzzel Road bridge in Montgomery County.
"We're hoping it's a project that is never completely finished," Collins said.