Developing a Fish Passage Mitigation Banking Pilot Project

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) are developing a Fish Passage Mitigation Banking Pilot Project in Oregon’s North Coast Watershed District.  The goal of the Pilot Project is to focus fish passage mitigation on the highest priority fish passage barriers and document benefits to native migratory fish.  The results of the Pilot Project will determine if a Fish Passage Banking Program can be successfully implemented on a statewide basis.  

ODFW in cooperation with ODOT, the Willamette Partnership and The Nature Conservancy, have developed a Net Benefit Analysis (NBA) Tool that quantifies and qualifies the amount of habitat above artificial obstructions.   The tool brings together instream habitat survey data, riparian and floodplain data and broader landscape information through field surveys and GIS analysis.   The NBA Tool is used in determining debits and credits as part of the impact and banking site selection process.

Banking will provide ODFW, waiver applicants and other stakeholders a more standardized and transparent process to evaluate whether mitigation is appropriate in meeting conservation goals and providing a net benefit to native migratory fish.