Sponsor: Westervelt Ecological Services – Rocky Mountain Region
Attention: Nick Picha
602 Park Point Drive, Suite 265
Golden, Colorado 80401
Email: npicha@westervelt.com
Telephone: (763) 807-7936
Location: The proposed bank site is within the Idaho Falls 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 17040201 located near Menan, Jefferson County, Idaho at Latitude/Longitude: 43.7532907°, -112.0777255°. The site is in Section 23, Township 5 North, Range 37 East.
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 USACE 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 person or legal 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. USACE invites interested parties to review the full prospectus.
A copy of the full prospectus for the proposed Bank is available for review on the USACE 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 “Snake River Mitigation Bank (Pending)”. Once the page loads, select “[Cyber Repository]” along the top menu. Here you will be able to download the full prospectus. Alternatively, a copy of the full prospectus may be requested from the USACE.
Bank Description: The proposed Bank site is 150-acres and includes perennial streams, palustrine emergent wetlands, palustrine scrub-shrub wetlands, riverine wetlands, low-lying paleochannels, detached floodplains, uplands, and abuts a portion of the Snake River. The site also includes the Heise-Roberts levee which splits the Bank site with roughly 40-acres waterside of the levee (west), and 110-acres landside of the levee (east). The Sponsor has stated the objectives of the Bank to include:
- Complete high-quality restoration (i.e., re-establishment) for aquatic resources on approximately 68-acres, rehabilitation and enhancement on approximately 31-acres, and create upland buffer habitat.
- Complete high-quality restoration and floodplain connectivity on approximately 5,900 linear feet of existing stream channels across the floodplain.
- Improve Snake River floodplain connectivity to support flood resiliency, flood amelioration, and water quality benefits to adjacent and downstream ecological systems and communities.
- Restore self-sustaining aquatic resources with enhanced ecological function, habitat for native flora and fauna, increased nutrient cycling, water quality, and flood amelioration benefits for downstream communities.
The work to complete the Bank objectives would include reconnecting groundwater through earthworks and grading activities and restoring the historic wetland and stream footprint of the site. Figures depicting the draft mitigation work plan are attached and labeled Figure #1: Snake River Mitigation Bank Conceptual Design.
To establish the proposed Bank site and complete wetland restoration, the sponsor would use excavation and grading activities, mechanical and chemical removal and management of noxious plants, and would establish and manage native wetland plant communities while reconnecting wetlands to the historic floodplain. Excavation would be targeted to expand riparian wetlands along existing incised channels and to provide for overbank wetlands with grass and shrub communities. There would be no excavation on the west side of the levee; waterside existing wetlands would be targeted for enhancement and restoration. To complete the stream restoration, the sponsor would increase floodplain widths to further expand connectivity between streams and surrounding wetlands. The streams would also be targeted for noxious plant management and re-establishment of native riparian communities. The Bank would be protected in perpetuity with a restrictive conservation easement held by the US Land Conservancy Inc. The sponsor would be the landowner as well as the interim and long-term 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 would encompass several HUC 8 watersheds within the Snake River Plain (12) Level lll ecoregion within the boundaries of the state of Idaho (see Figure #2: Service Area) which includes the entire Idaho Falls watershed (HUC 17040201), and portions of the following 8-digit HUCs: Lower Henrys (17040203), Upper Henrys (17040202), Teton (17040204), Beaver Camas (17040214), Medicine Lodge (17040215), American Falls (17040206), Big Lost (17040218), Willow (17040205), Palisades (17040104), Blackfoot (17040209), and Portneuf (17040208). This service area includes the urbanizing portions of Fremont, Clark, Jefferson, Madison, Teton, Bonneville, Butte, Bingham, and Bannock Counties and includes the cities of Idaho Falls, Rexburg, Blackfoot, Chubbuck, and Pocatello.
Drawings: Drawings are attached and labeled with the USACE reference number NWW-2025-00045. 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/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 USACE’s preliminary review indicates the administrative action to authorize a mitigation bank would not affect listed species or critical habitat. The USACE 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 USACE’s preliminary review indicates the administrative action to authorize a mitigation bank would not affect historic properties. The USACE 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 USACE public hearing be held to consider this proposed mitigation bank. Requests for a USACE public hearing shall state with particularity the reasons for holding a public hearing.
Evaluation: The USACE 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 USACE 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 USACE 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 in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed Bank.
Submitting Comments: Interested parties are invited to provide comments on the proposed Bank. All comments must be received no later than the expiration date of this public notice to ensure consideration. 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 USACE contact listed below.
Comments may be submitted online, by conventional mail or by email. Comments may also be submitted online at the Regulatory Request System website (https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs). At this website, select Public Notices and under Filter Notices select Walla Walla District. Comments submitted by conventional mail or email must include the USACE reference number as shown on page one 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 USACE reference number. Comments may be submitted to the following mailing address or email address:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Lia E. Landowski
Coeur d’Alene Regulatory Field Office
1910 Northwest Blvd., Suite 210
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83814
Email: lia.e.landowski@usace.army.mil
Telephone: (986) 810-0177