2012 FDOT Mitigation Plan - Southwest Florida Water Management ...

Project: SR 33 at CR 474
FM#: 4230961
Mitigation: Halapata Tastanki Preserve (SW 92)
Status: 2012-New Project
Project: I-75/ SW 95th St. Interchange
FM#: 4295821
Mitigation: Halapata Tastanki Preserve (SW 92)
Status: 2012-New Project
FDOT MITIGATION PROJECTS
Since its establishment, the FDOT Mitigation Program has contributed to many habitat
protection and restoration priorities of various resource agencies. Eight (8) of the
Mitigation Projects developed are associated with property exclusively owned and
managed by the District. Twenty-eight (28) of the Mitigation Projects are supported by
another resource agency. Mitigation Project partners include: Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, Florida Division of Forestry, Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, Hillsborough County, Conservation and Environmental
Protection Commission; Manatee County; Alachua County, Forever Program; Polk
County, Natural Resources; Pinellas County, Environmental Management; City of
Tampa; and, City of St. Petersburg. Two notable Mitigation Projects are Ft. DeSoto
Park (SW 70) and Circle B Bar Preserve (SW 66). The seagrass restoration at Ft.
DeSoto is recognized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with a
Coastal America Partnership Award and Circle B Bar Preserve is recognized by both
the Audubon of Florida and USA Today for the wildlife use of the habitats that have
been restored.
The number of FDOT projects having substantial wetland impacts requested to be
considered in the FDOT Mitigation Program have declined, especially in recent years.
Given the mitigation that is currently available in the active Mitigation Projects and the
number of mitigation banks now available, additional Mitigation Projects are not needed
at this time. In addition to the active Mitigation Projects, there are nine (9) mitigation
banks (three (3) added this year) and two (2) local government regional off-site
mitigation areas (ROMAs) that are included in the FDOT Mitigation Program.
Furthermore, recognizing that the Green Swamp Mitigation Bank has State approval
and a Federal permit application pending, it is added to the FDOT Mitigation Program
this year as well.
Currently, mitigation options are selected for the FDOT projects each year when the
FDOT Mitigation Plan is developed and approved by the Governing Board. The
purchase of mitigation bank credits is to be considered as a mitigation option. To date,
the mitigation program has purchased a total of 44.01 credits from four (4) mitigation
banks and two (2) local government regional off-site mitigation areas (ROMAs). Now
with mitigation banks more widely available, the purchase of mitigation bank credits
must be considered more frequently. However, projecting mitigation bank credit
availability and costs when mitigation will be needed makes it impractical to conduct this
analysis at the time the Mitigation Plan is developed. With the 2012 Mitigation Plan, the
26