Why choose Hidden Lake Wetland Mitigation Bank for your project?
The Hidden Lake Wetland Mitigation Bank was strategically located according to the Federal Register mandates to maximize ecological services and provide substantial functional uplift to degraded wetlands, ensuring successful permitting of Section 404/401 projects in the region. By implementing a project adjacent to existing protected wetlands, forested aquatic habitats are further connected, and wetland functions are maximized to improve and protect water quality entering Albemarle Sound. This attention to detail and development of a wetland mitigation bank is based on science, US Army Corps, and Division of Water Resources guidance, and adhering to the highest standard of site selection, design, and construction. The Hidden Lake, Wetland Mitigation Bank, arguably offers some of the highest quality non-riparian wetland credits in the hydrologic unit, allowing clients to take full advantage of ecological benefits extending far beyond the permitted project requirements, meeting investor demands for sustainable project success and unaccounted, ecological services. Buying higher-value credits means better value to your client and the ecosystems served by those credits.
Site Significance:
The N.C. Natural Heritage Program has designated the Hidden Lake Wetland Mitigation Bank property as having Statewide Ecological Significance. The Conservation Fund has determined it to be a high-priority acquisition needing protection due to its high ecological and restoration values and given its adjacency to the Palmetto-Peartree Preserve. The property filters water from a 2000+ acre watershed that supports intensive agriculture and industrial forestry. Along with significant water quality benefits for Albemarle Sound and Outstanding Resource Waters of the Alligator River sub-basin, the Hidden Lake Mitigation Bank property is connected to the larger Significant Natural Heritage Area – Lewis Point Swamp Forest, supporting non-riparian wet hardwood forest communities not found in any other areas of the Lewis Point Forest. It is also connected to the Palmetto-Peartree Preserve (now NCWRC Game Lands), creating an undisturbed connected corridor of nearly 11,000 acres and approximately 15 miles of Albemarle Sound frontage.
A list of features of this unique property includes:
· Hidden Lake, a 7-acre natural lake with canoe access to Albemarle Sound.
· Nearly a mile of pristine frontage on Albemarle Sound, accessible by boat.
· Miles of canoe trails via streams and old ditches throughout the northern 600 acres.
· 818 acres of undisturbed wetland forest for carbon sequestration.
· 48.6 acres of restored forested wetlands with swamp hardwoods, Atlantic white cedar, and cypress.
· Extensive areas of old-growth timber, including excellent examples of rare non-riverine wet-flat hardwood wetlands and remnant Atlantic white cedar stands.
· Resident osprey and bald eagle populations plus transient red wolves.
· High waterfowl/migratory bird populations plus transient red-cockaded woodpeckers.
· Large resident population of whitetail deer and black bears.
· Part of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission’s wild turkey restoration program.
· Tract adjacent to the 10,000-acre Palmetto-Peartree Preserve (now NC Wildlife Resources Commission Game Lands).
· Close proximity to other public trust lands: Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Pocosin Lakes Refuge, Bull Neck Swamp
Ecological Reserve.
· Original Hwy 64 road location, a historical feature, within the tract.
· Tract designated as a Dedicated Nature Preserve by NC Natural Heritage Program.
· High visibility conservation project in eastern North Carolina that demonstrates water quality and wildlife habitat improvement,
carbon sequestration, generation of valuable wetland mitigation credits, and promotion of other ecological assets.