Project Summary

Project Background

In May 2008, Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP) acquired 2,510 acres adjacent to The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Talisheek Pine Wetlands Preserve in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

The property was selected by EIP because of:

• Its importance as one of the largest restorable wet pine savannas; an increasingly scarce and highly threatened ecosystem that once dominated the Gulf Coastal Plain
• The ever-increasing demand for high-quality, wetland mitigation credits to offset unavoidable development impacts north of New Orleans

In 1998 The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana began acquiring a series of parcels that came to be known as the Talisheek Pine Wetlands Preserve, now one of the largest complexes of pine savanna wetlands in the United States. This preserve, located about thirty miles north of New Orleans, is dominated by longleaf pine forest on the uplands and open wet pine savanna in the lower flats. The restoration of longleaf pine habitat is a high conservation priority because very little of the original 1.3 million acres still remain in Louisiana, and over 20 rare, threatened or endangered species are found in the preserve including the gopher tortoise, Bachman’s sparrow, mud salamander, pitcher plants, pine woods lily and bog flame flower.

In order to continue its expansion of protected areas in this unique ecoregion, TNC approached EIP in mid-2007 to discuss the purchase, restoration and protection of additional significant properties. This discussion led to the development of an exceptional for-profit/non-profit partnership that will capitalize on TNC’s unparalleled science, conservation and stewardship knowledge, and EIP’s unique financial and mitigation bank management resources.

Following the restoration of the property, the development of mitigation and conservation banks and the sale of ecosystem credits, the resulting ownership will consist of over 2,500 acres with high recreational value (quail, deer, turkey hunting) and aesthetic qualities highly desirable to many outdoor enthusiasts and recreational land buyers. As one of the largest remaining intact properties in the greater New Orleans area, EIP’s property will be an attractive acquisition opportunity for private conservation buyers, conservation organizations or public resource agencies.

EIP’s Talisheek Pine Savanna property before restoration.

Components of Value

• Wetlands Mitigation Banking – Due to the rapid and unrelenting pace of development north of New Orleans, there is significant demand for new mitigation credits in the region with a very limited number of properties capable of providing the large-scale conservation and restoration required to provide them. Permitted development in this area currently impacts an average of over 300 acres of wet pine savanna annually, requiring over 600 acres of mitigation.The property will be developed into a mitigation bank of approximately 2,200 acres to provide quality Clean Water Act compliance in compensation for these impacts.
• Conservation Banking – The property contains approximately 300 acres of upland that will be restored into habitat for the endangered gopher tortoise and developed into a conservation bank. EIP is working with the US Fish & Wildlife Service to establish this program to offset impacts from development projects that have unavoidable impacts to gopher tortoise habitat. Total carrying capacity of the uplands will be a function of soil types and restoration practices; a conservative estimate is that the bank could accept as many as 50 tortoises.
• Conservation Finance – EIP will sell a working forest conservation easement over the non-wetland mitigation banking portions of the property to ensure the restored areas are properly buffered and the entire habitat remains intact forever.
• Sustainable Silviculture – The property has been managed historically for loblolly and slash pine pulp products. To convert the lowland portions of the property into the proper longleaf pine community, significant thinning and harvesting will need to be conducted in the early years of the project. This, combined with the continued management of the upland portions for longleaf pine, has the potential to generate useful timber revenues.

After: a healthy, complex ecosystem, home to many important species, like the gopher tortoise.