The research is also available as a working paper at:
Ruhl, J.B. and Salzman, James E., "The Effects of Wetland Mitigation Banking on
People" (January 2006). FSU College of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 179
Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=878331
Cheers,
-
Ashwani
Vasishth [EMAIL PROTECTED] (323) 462-2884
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~vasishth
At 02:13 PM -0500 3/30/06, Gwen Arnold wrote:
>For Immediate Release: March 30
>
>Contacts: Gwen Arnold 202-939-3819
>
>John Thompson: 202-939-3833
>
>Empirical Study Finds Wetland Mitigation Banking Shortchanges Urban
>Areas
>
>Two legal experts have determined that wetland mitigation banking
>redistributes wetland resources from urban areas to rural ones, leaving
>city dwellers with fewer important environmental services such as water
>filtration, erosion protection, and flood control.
>
>In their article "The Effects of Wetland Mitigation Banking on People,"
>published by the National Wetlands Newsletter, J. B. Ruhl and James
>Salzman assert that the wetland mitigation banking industry has a
>systematic, pervasive environmental downside: mitigation banking shifts
>environmental services away from urban areas and to rural communities.
>
>The article documents the first comprehensive empirical study of
>demographic changes prompted by wetland mitigation banking, a rapidly
>growing industry in the United States.
>
>Eliminating net loss of wetlands nationwide has been a policy priority
>for the United States for more than a decade. Mitigation banking seeks
>to achieve this goal by providing developers who damage or destroy
>wetlands with opportunities to buy off-site wetlands as compensation.
>Federal policy encourages agencies such as the U.S. Environmental
>Protection Agency and Federal Highway Administration to use mitigation
>banking to compensate for wetland impacts.=20
>
>Mitigation banking has been controversial since the inception of the
>banking industry roughly 10 years ago. Critics say that banks do not
>adequately replace wetland values and functions, while advocates say
>that banking is far more successful than any other means of compensating
>for wetland losses.
>
>J. B. Ruhl is the Matthew and Hawkins Professor of Property at the
>Florida State University College of Law in Tallahassee, Florida. James
>Salzman is a professor at the Duke University School of Law and the
>Nicholas School of the Environment.
>
>The National Wetlands Newsletter, the nation's only wetland law, policy,
>and science journal, is published by the Environmental Law Institute.
>For more information, please contact editor Gwen Arnold at 202-939-3819
>or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>###
>
>The Environmental Law Institute(r) is an independent, non-profit
>research and educational organization based in Washington, D.C. The
>Institute serves the environmental profession in business, government,
>the private bar, public interest organizations, academia, and the press.
>For further information from the Environmental Law Institute, please
>contact John Thompson at 202-939-3833 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
