Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District (Corps) has received a request to establish the proposed Succor Creek Mitigation Bank (Bank), as described below and show on the attached drawings. The Corps is soliciting comments on the proposed Bank.
Sponsor: Westervelt Ecological Services – Rocky Mountain Region
Attention: Tyler Bell
602 Park Point Drive, Suite 265
Golden, Colorado 80401
Email: tbell@westervelt.com
Telephone: (720) 568-0998
Location: The proposed bank site is within the Middle Snake-Succor watershed (Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 17050103) located near Homedale, Owyhee County, Idaho at Latitude/Longitude: 43.608606°, ‑116.966597°. The site is in Section 8, Township 3 North, Range 5 West.
Mitigation Banking: A mitigation bank is a site where aquatic resources (e.g., wetlands and streams) are restored, established/created, enhanced, and/or preserved for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation for impacts authorized by the Corps under the authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The mitigation bank sponsor is the entity responsible for establishing, and in most circumstances, operating the mitigation bank. A mitigation bank sells compensatory mitigation credits to permittees whose obligation to provide compensatory mitigation is transferred to the mitigation bank sponsor.
Prospectus: This public notice includes only summarized information and figures from the full prospectus. A prospectus is the preliminary proposal prepared by a mitigation bank sponsor and provides an overview of a proposed mitigation bank. The Corps invites interested parties to review the full prospectus.
A copy of the full prospectus for the proposed bank is available for review on the Corps’ Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) website (https://ribits.ops.usace.army.mil). At this website, in the left column under “FILTER” select the “USACE District” radio button and from the dropdown list, select “Walla Walla”. Then, in the same column under “MENU” select “Banks and Sites.” On the next page, find and select “Succor Creek Mitigation Bank (pending)”. Once the page loads, select “[Cyber Repository]” along the top menu. Here you will be able to download the prospectus. Alternatively, a copy of the prospectus may be requested from the Corps.
Bank Description: The proposed Bank site is 72 acres, and includes disconnected riverine oxbows, detached floodplains, ditches, uplands, wetlands, an intermittent stream, and Succor Creek. The objectives of the Bank include completing restoration of aquatic resources on 40-acres, enhancement on 1.3-acres, and upland buffer enhancement on 14.3-acres. The Bank objectives would also include the restoration and floodplain connectivity on 2,950-linear feet of Succor Creek and 0.08-acres of an abandoned oxbow. The work would include reconnecting the floodplain through earthworks and grading activities; other work would consist of eliminating invasive vegetation and planting native vegetation. The degradation of Succor Creek will be addressed using a combination of earthwork practices and removal of invasive species to restore floodplain connectivity and re-establishment of wetland vegetation. A 30-foot buffer would be placed around the property. Figures depicting the draft mitigation work plan are included in Figure #1: Succor Creek Prospectus Design.
To establish the proposed Bank and complete wetland restoration, the sponsor would use excavation and grading activities, mechanical and chemical removal and management of noxious plants, and establishment and management of native wetland plant communities while reconnecting adjacent wetlands to the historic floodplain. Low-lying paleo-channels and floodplain will be targeted for excavation along the north and south banks of Succor Creek, the lower tier of meadows along the south bank, and the western part of the upper tier of meadows that are wetter than those further east. Approximately 173,000 cubic yards of excavation is anticipated for the re-establishment of 40-acres of wetlands; spoils will be placed in a designated upland area.
The sponsor would then excavate along Succor Creek bank, remove Russian Olive via mechanical and chemical means, slope the streambank, and plant woody and herbaceous native species along the bank line to reconnect Succor Creek with the floodplain bench. The sponsor would also decommission on-site lateral diches and drains that solely serve the Succor Creek Site. The Bank would be protected in perpetuity with a conservation easement with the US Land Conservancy Inc. as the holder. The sponsor would be the landowner as well as the interim and long-term land manager of the property.
Service Area: A mitigation bank service area is the geographic area within which impacts can be mitigated at a specific mitigation bank. The proposed service area for this Bank is the HUC 8 watersheds occurring within the Snake River Plain Level III ecoregion which includes portions of the Middle Snake-Succor (HUC 17050103), Lower Boise (HUC 17050114), Middle Snake-Payette (HUC 17050115), Payette (HUC 17050122), Weiser (HUC 13266000), Bruneau (HUC 17050102) and the CJ Strike Reservoir (HUC 17050101) (see drawings Page 5 of 7). This service area includes the urbanizing portions of Adams, Washington, Gem, Boise, Ada, Canyon, Owyhee, Idaho, and Twin Falls Counties and including the cities of Boise, Caldwell, and Payette.
Drawings: drawings are attached and labeled Corps No. NWW-2024-00401. Copies of this public notice, which have been mailed or otherwise physically distributed, feature drawings in black and white. The electronic version features those drawings in color, which we think more accurately illustrates the proposed mitigation bank. To access the electronic version of this public notice, go to the Walla Walla District Regulatory website at https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Business-With-Us/Regulatory-Division/ and under Regulatory Menu select Public Notices.
Endangered Species: Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C 1536) requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on all actions that may affect a species listed (or proposed for listing) under the ESA as threatened or endangered or that may adversely modify designated critical habitat. The Corps’ preliminary review indicates the administrative action to authorize a mitigation bank would not affect listed species or critical habitat. The Corps will complete a separate evaluation for activities to construct the proposed mitigation bank that may require a Department of the Army permit.
Historic Properties: Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470), requires Federal agencies to consult with the appropriate State and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer to take into account the effects of actions they undertake or permit on historic properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Corps’ preliminary review indicates the administrative action to authorize a mitigation bank would not affect historic properties. The Corps will complete a separate evaluation for activities to construct the proposed mitigation bank that may require a Department of the Army permit.
Corps Public Hearing Requests: Any person may request in writing within the comment period specified in this notice that a Corps public hearing be held to consider this proposed mitigation bank. Requests for Corps public hearings shall state with particularity the reasons for holding a public hearing.
Evaluation: The Corps will evaluate the proposed mitigation bank in accordance with 33 CFR Part 332. The decision whether to authorize the bank will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact, including cumulative impacts, of the described activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefit, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the described activity, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors, which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.
The Corps is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Native American Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed Bank. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to authorize the proposed Bank. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed Bank. If the proposal progresses to the sponsor’s submittal of a complete draft mitigation instrument to the Corps, the Corps will use the comments received on this public notice to inform an Environmental Assessment completed for the Corps’ decision on the mitigation instrument.
Submitting Comments: Interested parties are invited to provide comments on the proposed Bank. Comments may be submitted by conventional mail or email. Either conventional mail or email comments must include the Corps reference number as shown on page 1 and include the commenter’s name and address. To be accepted, email comments must originate from the author’s email account and must include on the subject line of the email message the Corps reference number. All comments received will become part of the administrative record and are subject to public release under the Freedom of Information Act including any personally identifiable information such as names, phone numbers, and addresses.
Additional information about the proposed Bank may be obtained from the Corps contact listed below. All comments, whether by conventional mail or email, must be received no later than the expiration date of this public notice to ensure consideration. Comments should be submitted to the following mailing address or email address:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Lia Landowski
Coeur d’Alene Field Office
1910 Northwest Blvd., Suite 210
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83814
Email: lia.e.landowski@usace.army.mil
Telephone: (986) 810-0177