The Zayante Sandhills Conservation Bank (ZSCB) is dedicated to preserving, enhancing and restoring key parcels of Sandhill habitat in Santa Cruz County, California.
ZSCB offers a creative, habitat-based solution to preservation and recovery of rare and endangered Sandhill species in the region. By focusing on large, contiguous areas of high quality habitat, ZSCB offers marked biological advantages to piecemeal regulation of fragmented and/or partially developed sites. ZSCB also facilitates a more coherent, straightforward regulatory framework for those property owners who are seeking compliance with state and federal laws pertaining to endangered species.
Prior to the implementation of the bank, landowners faced two major difficulties obtaining approval for development projects in the Sandhills. The first impediment was lack of a reasonable mitigation option to compensate for project impacts. Establishment of the Conservation Bank and formal agreements between the Bank, US Fish & Wildlife, the County of Santa Cruz and the city of Scott’s Valley, provide eligible landowners a relatively affordable mitigation option through the purchase of credits. The second difficulty was procedural in nature and involved obtaining the necessary authorizations from USFWS, and the County or City. Implementing the operating agreement between the Bank and County eliminated the major procedural hurdle for the County to issue permits once federal requirements have been satisfied. >More via
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A newly released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report is shining a spotlight on a concern many in the mitigation banking industry have raised for years: inconsistent implementation of the federal compensatory mitigation program across U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts. Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Corps requires compensatory mitigation when permitted
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For too long, environmental policy debates have been framed around a false and unproductive premise: that economic growth and environmental protection are inherently at odds. This mindset is not only outdated—it is actively harmful to both outcomes. Mitigation banking offers a clear path forward. By design, it aligns economic incentives with ecological restoration, proving that well-functioning
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