Dallas County, Alabama
GMC established a 93-acre site in Dallas County, Alabama as a single-user stream and wetland mitigation bank for the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). The site had previously been used for agriculture and silviculture activities. These activities resulted in a loss of wildlife habitat and unstable stream banks that were actively eroding, causing sediment loading to the Cahaba River.
As mitigation bank sponsor, GMC is leading the efforts to restore the property to its natural bottomland hardwood wetland system. Restoration activities include re-establishing the natural pattern, profile, and dimension of the streams to decrease erosion and sediment loading, as well as removing invasive species and planting native bottomland hardwood species to re-establish wildlife habitat and enhance wetland function.
Over 5,000 linear feet of stream and its associated riparian buffer are being restored, resulting in improved water quality in the Cahaba River watershed. The Freshwater Land Trust, in partnership with GMC, established a conservation easement to include the Selma Dixon Mitigation Bank in February of 2018.