George Howard had his own plan to rebuild wetlands that had been lost along Louisiana’s coast — and to make some money while he was at it.
At Jesuit Bend, Howard’s company, Restoration Systems LLC, planned to sell enough credits to cover the costs of the marsh project and turn a profit.
But if it was a wetlands success, it also was a financial failure.
"This whole project had many things change while it was being built to make it less and less financially attractive to build," Howard said.
In 2016 alone, developers sought permits to destroy 3,700 acres of wetlands in the state for transportation, levee, pipeline and other projects, according to an analysis by the Gulf Restoration Network.
Yet some mitigation banks are allowed to create wetlands as far as 100 miles from the wetlands that are being destroyed, the Gulf Restoration Network says.
Since 2016, Army Corps of Engineers rules have let mitigation banks that create wetlands inland — to convert farmland to wetlands, for example — compete for mitigation credit sales with banks that restore lost wetlands from open water.
Disconnected from the greater hydrological system and away from the water, farmland conversions don’t cushion the blow of storm surge.
Scott Eustis, a coastal wetland specialist with the Gulf Restoration Network, says the corps should change its rules to place a higher value on rebuilding land.
If he is unable to sell mitigation credits to recoup his costs, it’s unlikely he’ll persuade his financial backers to build another restoration site like the one near Jesuit Bend.