Oregon would let landowners sell credits for salmon habitat restoration

The Department of State Lands would develop a pilot program to certify salmon habitat restoration projects as mitigation banks. The pilot covers agricultural or forestland projects in the Coquille and Coos watersheds that restore waters that are or were salmon habitat. It aims to improve wild coho and chinook salmon habitat. The department would work with the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and set project, review, and success standards. Projects must avoid damage to nearby properties and follow applicable laws. The program's duties would begin only after federal approval of the bank instrument and authorization for activities in navigable U.S. waters.

The department would certify credits from completed projects and handle payments when buyers purchase them. Landowners with approved restoration projects and buyers seeking credits for mitigation in the Coquille or Coos watersheds are covered. The department must inspect completed work before certifying credits. Landowners must protect the restored habitat; on private land, they must give the department access and record the protection terms in county deed records. A buyer may agree to cover project costs. The bill sets the credit price at twice average project costs and directs the department to pay the landowner half of the amount received unless the buyer assumed those costs; the remaining amount goes into a trust fund. A landowner may receive yearly dividends from the fund while the project meets program rules. Existing hunting and fishing rights remain. A landowner may start work after project approval or wait until a buyer agrees to purchase the credits.

The department would seek federal approval before the pilot program can operate. The approval condition and project cutoff apply to the pilot program. The Department of State Lands would work with the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and consult federal agencies to develop and seek approval for the bank instrument. The department may prepare for the program before it becomes operative. Sections 2 to 8 would become operative on federal approval. The department could not approve projects on or after January 1 of the sixth calendar year following that approval.