Wooly Bugger Farm - Ecotone is in the process of permitting the first wetland and stream restoration bank in Maryland at Wooly Bugger Farm in Baltimore County. The site, located in the Patapsco River Watershed (HUC Code 02060003), will provide wetland and stream credits for applicants in need of mitigation under the new U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources; Final Rule. The project will focus on restoring hydrology to the riparian corridor by raising the inverts of the two degraded unnamed tributaries to Piney Run (An MDE Use III stream) on the property to reconnect them to their historical floodplain and removing accumulated upland sediments in the floodplain to create pockets of nontidal wetland. Stream restoration will be achieved using Natural Channel Design techniques, and will include innovative stabilization and habitat measures specific to the brown and brook trout populations found within the Piney Run watershed. The entire site will be planted with native species to create a continuous block of forested wetlands and floodplain contiguous with upland forest planting areas previously installed on the site by Ecotone.
		Ranarium Forest and Wetland Mitigation Site - In 2008, Ecotone began restoring the Ranarium Farm, located along Deer Creek in Baltimore County, Maryland. The +/- 55 acre property straddles Harris Mill Road, which separates the nearly level Deer Creek Floodplain and the steep, rocky hillside above. To date, approximately 16 acres of upland reforestation has occurred, and the existing forest on the site has been preserved in perpetuity. In addition, much of the reforestation area has been planted with herbaceous species to provide seed, fruit, tubers, forbs and grasses to provide a year round wildlife food source for a variety of game and non-game species. The next phase of the project is to establish a wetland mitigation bank on the Deer Creek floodplain to service the Maryland portion of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed (HUC Code 02050306) and the Patapsco River Watershed (HUC Code 02060003). The wetland restoration design will remove fill and drainage ditches implemented in the past to utilize the floodplain areas for agricultural crop production. The entire wetland and riparian area will be planted with a diverse mix of lowland trees, shrubs, grasses, rushes, sedges and forbs.
Sage Gut Stream and Wetland Offsite Mitigation - Ecotone is currently in the final stages of planning for the Sage Gut/PCS Phosphate off-site mitigation project, located in Beaufort County, North Carolina. The project will restore approximately 5,400 linear feet of headwater coastal plain stream, 105 acres of riparian and non-riparian wetlands, and 14 acres of riparian buffer, and will preserve over 1,000 feet of existing stream and 1.5 acres of wetland. The project is being undertaken to mitigate for proposed impacts caused by the expansion of the PCS Phosphate Mine Expansion in nearby Aurora. Stream restoration will consist of restoring typical headwater “swamp run” morphology to areas currently in agricultural production that have been ditched and drained. Wetlands with variable hydroperiods will be restored on the site by plugging ditches, removing drain tile and lightly grading the existing agricultural areas to return the ground to a more natural state. Construction activities are scheduled to begin in July of 2009.
		Baltimore Crossroads @ 95 Wetland Mitigation - In June of 2009, Ecotone completed construction of the on-site wetland mitigation for the Baltimore Crossroads @ 95 mixed use business complex in eastern Baltimore County, Maryland. The completion of the project marks the final portion of the mitigation requirement for the development project, which included two Ecotone design/build projects in the Long Green Creek watershed. The project included removal of an abandoned roadway, restoring wetland hydrology and installing herbaceous and woody wetland vegetation to link two adjacent mature forested wetland areas.
Mazza Property Stream Restoration - After years of planning, the restoration of an unnamed tributary to Little Paint Branch in College Park, Maryland has been completed. The restoration efforts, which included stabilizing a severely eroded side channel and restoring the pattern, profile, and cross-section of the highly degraded main channel, were undertaken as part of the overall stormwater management strategy for the adjacent private student housing project. Because the watershed is almost entirely urbanized, with little stormwater management, careful consideration was given to structures and bank treatments used in the design. After grading activities and structure placement was completed, streambanks were planted with live willow stakes, and the riparian corridor was replanted with native woody stock. Ecotone completed all of the assessment, permitting, design, construction, and planting for the project.