GreenWorks is working as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver a mitigation/conservation bank to serve ODOT Region 1. GreenWorks is leading the restoration planting design for this large-scale aquatic resources restoration with at least five measurable conservation credits to offset unavoidable resource disturbance by future ODOT projects in the Portland Metropolitan area.

The project is being developed on a portion of the Hogan Road Ranch, just outside of Scappoose, Oregon. The site is part of a large, seasonal cattle ranch where the ranching will cease on the bank portion of the property. Scappoose Creek and Teal Creek are tidally influenced tributaries to the Columbia River that substantially influence the site’s hydrology. Decades of cattle ranching have disturbed the native groundcovers and shrub-layer, and introduced non-native vegetation like reed canarygrass. A mature Oregon ash canopy covers a good portion of the site. GreenWorks has conducted site reconnaissance of the plant communities and has worked with the project team in assessing opportunities for enhancement and restoration, and in identifying where grading could improve habitat connectivity.

Project goals include improving tidal channel and floodplain connectivity; enhancing existing wetlands; enhancing riparian buffers; managing non-native vegetation; creating habitat berms executing micro-grading for improved habitat connectivity; and preserving existing high-quality habitats. This is a turn-key project where the consulting team is providing the land, design and permitting, and delivering the constructed bank.