Nebraska Department of Roads

About the Program | Definitions | Wetlands FAQ's
Kestral & Bluebird Habitat Info

About the Wetland Mitigation Program

Under regulations of the Clean Water Act, NDOR is required to acquire permits when impacts to areas identified as wetlands are unavoidable. Mitigation (replacement) is normally required.

Wetlands, whether they are constantly, seasonally or temporarily wet, provide vital habitat for wildlife, control erosion, reduce flooding, naturally filter sediments and pollution from moving into lakes and rivers, and are important to outdoor recreation. Lack of appropriate replacement property can be problematic in that it can sometimes cause construction delays and force NDOR to seek condemnation of property in order to obtain the permit needed to complete the job.

Development

In March of 1999, NDOR received certification for the first wetland mitigation bank in Nebraska. This was an 11.4-acre site built south of I-80 near the village of Willow Island, between Gothenburg and Cozad, Nebraska. Since that first certification, a significant number of sites have been mitigated, either on-site or in a new bank site established by NDOR.

Currently there are 18 bank mitigation sites across the state comprising 2,018 acres. Replacement sites vary in size ranging from less than one quarter of an acre to several hundred acres. The sites must satisfy a mitigation review team comprised of representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC).

Outreach Programs

NDOR has instituted outreach programs to educate the public about wetland mitigation. One way to do this is to get the word out to young people about the importance of exisiting wetlands. NDOR Biologists Steve Duecker and Carol Wienhold, working with the Lincoln Public Schools and the Raymond Central Schools, conduct field trips to local area bank sites where students can examine firsthand the intricate and often fragile relationships that occur in wetlands. The initial field trips and outreach programs have been in the general Lincoln area, and plans are underway to expand into schools in other parts of the state.

Maintenance

With the development of more wetland mitigation bank sites, continuing maintenance of the sites is an issue addressed by NDOR. Unwanted vegetation is a problem, and one new and somewhat unique method of removing that growth is by use of goats.

Beginning in the fall of 2005, the Morman Island bank site had about 1,000 goats grazing for ten days. Near Rose, NE, a second site had about 2,000 goats grazing for ten days. The beauty of this plan is that the goats removed unwanted vegetation and left the good wetland vegetation.

With chemicals, this selective removal would not be possible. Based on the renewal of contracts with the goat herd operators, continuation of the grazing operation is anticipated. Use of goats will be monitored, and within the next few years an evaluation will be made as to the long term benefits of this program.

For more information on Wetlands, Contact the NDOR Environmental Permits Unit of the Planning & Project Development Division.

Definitions

Wetland Mitigation Banking is the development of wetland areas that are fairly large in size to replace wetlands destroyed by highway construction projects.

Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Compensatory mitigation is the restoration, creation, enhancement, or in exceptional circumstances, preservation of wetlands and/or aquatic resources for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable adverse impacts which remain after all appropriate and practicable avoidance and minimization has been achieved.

The law requires the Department to replace all wetlands destroyed during highway construction. In the past this replacement usually occurred as small discontinuous wetlands along the project. This land was purchased or condemned and a replacement wetland constructed. These small isolated wetlands are not very functional and the cost has been high. Public opinion was not improved by the condemnation of these parcels.

The Department seeks willing sellers of land that has the potential to be developed as wetlands. An appraisal is made, and if negotiations are successful, plans are developed and a wetland is constructed. Land is acquired for these bank sites through permanent easement or out-right purchase.

This is a legal instrument that assures the developed bank remains a functioning wetland, but leaves the ownership the same. The owner is responsible for some management and has the right to use the land, within the constraints of the easement. Usually the owner can use the site for hunting and other recreational activities. Fee hunting is not restricted. Most maintenance is the responsibility of the Department of Roads. The land remains on the tax rolls. The Department of Roads must have legal access to the site to monitor and carry out needed maintenance.

Yes. The easement remains, however. The new owner assumes the same constraints as the original.

State law restricts the acreage to 150% of a realistic 6-year need. For the current period this amounts to about 1,000 acres. Wetland banks are needed throughout the state, wherever the Department is building roadways that have wetland impacts.

The best time of the year for wetland construction is mid to late summer. This is the season when Nebraska receives the least rainfall, and the sites are dry enough to allow earth moving.

Land that was once a wetland but has had the drainage altered. Land that is classified by the Natural esources Conservation Service as Prior Converted (PC) or Farmed Wetland (FW) may be the best indicator of property with potential.

For more information on Wetlands, Contact the NDOR Environmental Permits Unit of the Planning & Project Development Division.

Kestral & Bluebird Habitat...I-80 Kestrel and Bluebird Trail
by Steve Duecker, PWS, NDOR Wetlands Biologist

Kestrels are small falcons about the size of a dove. They weigh from 3-5 oz. and

are native to Nebraska. Cavities in trees and occasional nooks of buildings or cliffs are used for nesting. Their diet consists mainly of large insects and mice, although small birds are occasionally taken. Kestrels are very colorful falcons and one of the few raptors in which the male and female have different plumage color. The male Kestrels generally select and defend their nesting territory in early March.

In many areas of the country the only area left with habitat which the Kestrel can use for hunting is the highway ROW. Kestrels are frequently seen perched or hovering along the roadway hunting. It was found that Kestrels would use manmade nest boxes to replace lost nesting sites due to dead tree removal. Several states started placing nest boxes on the backs of highway signs. Nebraska Dept. of Roads (NDOR) in cooperation with the Sierra Club and The Audubon Society has done this on I-80 for several years. The nest boxes require yearly cleaning and monitoring to prevent European Starlings from using the box. Monitoring was done by the Sierra Club.

Due to declining use of the boxes and concerns for personnel safety the Sierra club decided to remove the boxes from I-80 and terminate the program. The NDOR felt that the program should continue in some fashion. Also at this time the NDOR was approached by Bluebirds Across Nebraska for permission to place bluebird boxes on I-80. After meeting with these groups and Nebraska Game & Parks Commission a plan was devised to place poles for Kestrel and Bluebird boxes at interchanges and rest areas on I-80 out of the main traffic flow. A design for a new type of tilting Kestrel pole was developed and then built by the Bluebirds group. This pole will allow boxes to be maintained and monitored without the use of a ladder. The nest boxes will be monitored by the Sierra Club and Bluebirds Across Nebraska.

The NDOR set 10 Kestrel poles in late January at selected sites on I-80 from Gretna to west of York. The Bluebirds group set the bluebird boxes and mounted the Kestrel nest boxes on the poles. After evaluating the nesting season another 10 Kestrel poles were placed on I-80 from Gretna to Grand Island. Informational displays are also being developed for the rest areas along this section of I-80.

I greatly appreciate the help of NDOR District 1,2 and 4 in getting the poles set. The continued help of the NDOR Arts & Graphics unit is instrumental in developing the information displays. Thanks are also due to Velta Didrichsons of the Wetlands Unit for creating the location map of the sites.

Bluebirds Across Nebraska
Sierra Club
The Nebraska Environmental Trust
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
Nebraska Department of Roads