Hosted by Restoration Systems
(approximately 60-minute drive from downtown)
Field trips are optional, pre-registration is required or if space available ($85 early fee). Included with Government registration; all others pay fee. Box Lunch provided.

Join Restoration Systems on a tour of The Phantom Mill Stream and Wetland Site – a North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services (NCDMS) Full Delivery mitigation project that is slated for construction commencement early spring 2021 with completion of earthwork in mid- summer 2021.

The Site encompasses 16.1 acres of disturbed forest and 100+ year old livestock pasture along the start of the warm waters of Cane Creek and unnamed tributaries to Cane Creek. The creek and its adjacent wetlands were drained and straightened historically, leaving the creek as a straightened eroding ditch. In its current state, the Site includes 4404 linear feet of degraded stream channel, 1 acre of degraded wetland, and 4 acres of drained hydric soil. Proposed Site restoration activities include the construction of meandering, E/C-type stream channel resulting in 2984 linear feet of Priority I stream restoration, 335 linear feet of stream enhancement (Level I), 666 linear feet of stream enhancement (Level II), 669 linear feet of stream preservation, 3.727 acres of riparian wetland restoration, and 0.828 acre of riparian wetland enhancement.

Primary considerations for Site selection included the potential for improvement of water quality within a region of North Carolina under heavy development and livestock/agricultural pressure. More specififically, considerations included: desired aquatic resource functions; hydrologic conditions; soil characteristics; aquatic habitat diversity; habitat connectivity; compatibility with adjacent land uses; reasonably foreseeable effects the mitigation project will have on ecologically important aquatic and terrestrial resources; and potential development trends and land use changes. Site specifific characteristics are summarized below, in addition to development trends and land use changes within the watershed.

Currently, the proposed Site is characterized by disturbed forest and livestock pasture. The Site is located Cane Creek. A summary of existing Site characteristics in favor of proposed stream and wetland activities include the following.
• Streams and wetlands are accessible to livestock
• Streams and wetlands have been cleared of forest vegetation
• Site receives nonpoint source inputs including agricultural chemicals and livestock waste
• Wetland soils have been compacted by livestock and agricultural equipment
• Wetland hydrology has been removed by stream channel entrenchment and drain tiles
• Streams are classifified as nutrient sensitive waters.

Hosted by Wildlands Engineering (approx. 50-minute drive)
Field trips are optional, pre-registration is required or if space available ($85 early fee). Included with Government registration; all others pay fee.

Participants should wear boots or hiking shoes if possible but its not required to be able to see this project.

On this tour, participants can expect to see wide open vistas over an active farm surrounding the mitigation site and walk through the site to see in-stream structures, floodplain wetlands, and planted and volunteer vegetation. Wildlands will have vehicles on site to transport participants around the site to different access points. Tim Baumgartner (Director of DMS) will be present to discuss how DMS makes decisions to buy bank credits or put out Full Delivery RFPs.

Wildlands recently completed construction of the Daniels Creek Mitigation Bank in the Cape Fear 04 river basin. The Daniels Creek Mitigation Site is located in western Harnett County approximately six miles east of Sanford and 30 miles southwest of Raleigh. The site straddles the dividing line between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain and is a combination of steep headwater streams and larger meandering systems with extensive wetlands throughout the floodplains and headwaters. Prior to restoration, cattle had full access to all streams and relic wetland area on the property. High erosion rates were leading to significant loss of pasture during heavy rain events.

The project involved the restoration and enhancement of over 15,500 feet of incised and straightened streams from the headwaters of ten unnamed tributaries to the mainstem of Daniels Creek. Restoration and enhancement of these reaches are providing 12,280 stream credits. The project also restored and enhanced over 23 acres of riparian and non-riparian wetlands. Wildlands installed over 30,000 feet of fence to exclude livestock from all streams, wetlands, and ponds on the property. The site is protected by a 56-acre conservation easement. Stream and wetland credits have been sold to the private sector as well as the Department of Mitigation Services (DMS) providing an example of how DMS’ flexibility in credit procurement supports private banks as well as a robust full delivery market.

Hosted by Water & Land Solutions
(approximately 30-minute drive from downtown)
Field trips are optional, pre-registration is required or if space available ($85 early fee). Included with Government registration; all others pay fee. Snack provided.

Important Notes: We will be hiking in moderate to difficult terrain. Be prepared for the weather and to get wet/muddy – anything can happen out there! Dress accordingly. Good footwear is a necessity – boots that you don’t mind getting wet will do.

A unique mitigation opportunity located in a rapidly urbanizing landscape! Join Water & Land Solutions, LLC (WLS) on a tour of their mitigation sites as part of the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services (DMS) Full-Delivery program. Tour will stop at Buffalo Creek Tributaries and Lake Wendell sites, with the other three sites included in the driving tour. As a result of implementing these projects, DMS addressed water quality stressors and restoration goals as defined in their Neuse River Basin Restoration Priority Plan, the Wake-Johnston Collaborative Local Watershed Plan, and the Neuse 01 Regional Watershed Plan Phase II. Each site involves the restoration and protection of headwater tributaries within adjacent catchments that drain to Buffalo Creek. This comprehensive watershed approach will provide significant ecological uplift and water quality benefits to over 22,000 linear feet of stream and 20 acres of wetlands. Permanent conservation easements totaling 71 acres will protect riparian corridors and aquatic life use that drain over 1,100 contiguous acres of the Neuse River sub-basin. This unique mitigation opportunity is located in a rapidly urbanizing landscape less than 30 minutes outside of downtown Raleigh, NC.

(Stop) Site 4-Buffffalo Creek Tributaries: The Buffalo Creek Tributaries site will involve the restoration, enhancement, and permanent protection of eight reaches and their riparian buffers, totaling approximately 5,029 linear feet. The Project also includes riparian wetland restoration (re-establishment) and enhancement of approximately 3.5 acres. The site catchment has rapidly developed over the past decade. A high school and residential development has drastically increased impervious surface area runoffs and stormwater control measures. The project is a great example of how compensatory mitigation can be utilized as a watershed planning and management strategy to restore and protect riparian corridors.(Stop) Site 1-Lake Wendell: When WLS started the Lake Wendell project, the surrounding farm area was in transition from cattle pasture to renewable energy with the additional of a solar farm. The Lake Wendell site is a great example of how the owner diversified the land use to include pasture, conservation, and solar energy. The site involved the restoration, enhancement, preservation and permanent protection of five reaches and their riparian buffers, totaling approximately 4,269 linear feet of streams and 490,477 square feet of riparian buffers. The design approach also included removing a large farm pond and connecting the stream to its geomorphic floodplain. (driving tour) Site 2-Pen Dell: The Pen Dell site involved the restoration, enhancement, preservation and permanent protection of five reaches and their riparian buffers, totaling 5,064 linear feet and 633,803 square feet. Work also included the installation of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) such as cattle exclusion and sediment basins to reduce pollutant loads and ensure long-term ecosystem sustainability. Site 3-Edwards-Johnson: The Edwards-Johnson site involved the restoration, preservation, and permanent protection of four reaches totaling 3,729 linear feet of streams and their riparian buffers. The site is located between two crop fields and the riparian buffer is providing much needed protection from excess nutrients entering the stream and wetland complex. Site 5-Odell’s House: The Odell’s House site will involve the restoration, enhancement, preservation and permanent protection of eight reaches and their riparian buffers, totaling approximately 4,313 linear feet of streams and 455,670 square feet of riparian buffers. The project involves two adjacent tributaries separated by a cattle pasture. The project includes the removal of two impoundments and the construction of a headwater stream channel through both pond bottoms. The Project will also include riparian wetland restoration (re-establishment and rehabilitation), enhancement and preservation of approximately 3.9 acres.