Ecological Restoration Case Studies

Lyon Swamp Wetland Mitigation

In 1995, Federal Paper Board Company, Inc. now, International Paper Co. needed to find a suitable site to construct a staged discharge holding pond to improve the quality of its effluent discharge to the Cape Fear River. The proposed pond site was located on land adjacent to the Riegelwood Mill, immediately east of Livingston Creek in Columbus County, North Carolina. The pond design occupied mostly uplands, but some impacts to branch bottom wetlands would result from filling activities. Compensatory mitigation for offsetting 17.12 acres of impacted wetlands was proposed in a Compensatory Mitigation Plan.

The Mitigation Plan proposed off-site mitigation to meet a 2:1 ratio designated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the 17.12 acres of wetland impacts. The Lyon Swamp wetland mitigation site is located approximately 2.3 miles northwest of Kelly, NC off of NC Route 53 near the intersection of Over Lyon Road (SR 1534) and Elwell Ferry Road (Figure 1). The site is approximately 72.8 acres consisting of 50.3 acres of restored forested wetlands (Photo 1 and 2) in a prior converted agricultural field, 8.5 acres of restored upland forest including longleaf pine restoration (LINK - Photo 3), and 14 acres of existing forested wetlands.

A monitoring plan was developed to evaluate the success of the mitigation activities. Yearly monitoring of soil hydrology and vegetation was accomplished for 5 years, with reports submitted to the US Army Corps of Engineers and other designated agencies. The project has been "signed-off" as successful and complete by all regulatory agencies, having met all wetland mitigation criteria outlined in the plan.

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