EIP Articles

Earth For Hire
Last year, the land’s owner, a timber company, sought to sell the property. Normally, it would have been snapped up by a developer looking to pave it over with housing subdivisions. Instead, however, the land was purchased by a Maryland-based group of investors.

Once Reviled, Wetlands Awaken to Preservation's Touch
Nick Dilks saw the potential even as he first laid eyes on 1,200 acres of forest west of Georgetown. It had been ditched, drained and cut over. In short, the 1,200 acres purchased late last year by Ecosystem Investment Partners told the story of the toll that land clearing, farming, forestry and development take on Delaware's wetlands...

From Successful Financier to Mitigation Banker: A Profile of Fred Danforth
After a successful career in private equity investing, Fred Danforth followed his passion for fly fishing into a second career as a wetland and stream mitigation banker. His story and his experience may provide some interesting insights into the future of conservation finance...

Partners in Conservation: EIP Pioneers New Model
Ecosystem Investment Partners is re-writing the book on land conservation. The Ecosystem Marketplace finds out what the men behind the new business have to say about the synergies they see between conservation and investment returns in the United States...

In The News

New EPA Wetland Guidelines to Boost Mitigation Banks
The US Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers just released their long-awaited regulations for offsetting lost wetlands. They should mean a major boost for mitigation banking...

Army Corps and EPA Improve Wetland and Stream Mitigation
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released a new rule to clarify how to provide compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to the nation's wetlands and streams. The rule will enable...

Environmental Law Institute Study on Mitigation Banking Released
In the first major study to quantify the total volume of the U.S. wetland mitigation banking market, the Environmental Law Institute estimates the total amount spent on aquatic resource mitigation under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act in FY2003 was between $1.9 billion and $4.0 billion, with a probable midpoint of around $2.95 billion. Click the link above to download the study from their website.