Credit type · sold in square feet of buffer mitigation
Square-foot credits from restored, permanently protected stream buffers, for permitted impacts to the 50-foot riparian buffers protected under the Neuse and Jordan Lake rules.
Streams, lakes and ponds in North Carolina’s Neuse River basin and Jordan Lake watershed are protected by a 50-foot riparian buffer on each side, split into a 30-foot inner zone that must stay undisturbed and a 20-foot outer zone with limited allowed uses. Road crossings, utility lines, stormwater outfalls and other activities that must cross or disturb the buffer are classified in the rules as exempt, allowable, or allowable with mitigation. Activities in that last category need a buffer authorization from the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR) or a delegated local government, and the applicant must compensate for the impact by mitigating buffer elsewhere.
Mitigation is measured in square feet, at multiples of the impacted area that depend on the zone affected. Applicants can build their own buffer restoration, pay the state’s in-lieu fee program, or buy credits from an approved private buffer mitigation bank like RestorEcology’s sites.
Your buffer authorization will state the square footage of mitigation required. We sell that exact quantity.
RestorEcology restores buffers where they have been lost, planting native hardwoods on cropland along streams and ditches and protecting the planted area with a recorded conservation easement. DWR reviews the plan and the monitored plantings and approves the site’s buffer credits, which are tracked on a ledger as they are sold. After the monitoring period, an endowed long-term steward, typically a land trust, holds the easement so the buffer stays forested in perpetuity.
Buffer mitigation must be located in the same watershed as the impact:
Check an address on our service-area map or ask us to confirm.
Most buffer mitigation purchases are small relative to a project’s budget, and having the certificate in hand keeps the authorization moving. Tell us your deadline and we will work to it.
Source projects
Neuse River · Wayne County, NC · 11 acres
11 acres of former cropland along two Brooks Swamp tributaries, planted with native hardwoods in 2024. Nitrogen and Neuse buffer credits available now.
Neuse River · Wayne County, NC · 35 acres
35 acres on Edwards Branch and four tributary streams near Goldsboro. Existing wooded buffers preserved, cropland planted in native hardwoods. Nitrogen and buffer credits available.
Neuse River · Wayne County, NC · 33 acres
33 acres on Horse Branch and a tributary near Grantham. Hardwood swamp preserved, cropland planted with native hardwoods. Nitrogen and Neuse buffer credits available.
Jordan Lake · Orange County, NC · 17 acres
17+ acres of former cropland at a winery in the Morgan Creek headwaters, planted with native hardwoods. Buffer, nitrogen and phosphorus credits for the Upper New Hope arm of Jordan Lake.
Common questions
Send us a credit inquiry with your project location, the credit type and the quantity your permit requires. We reply by email with a quote showing pricing and availability. Once you confirm, we issue an invoice. When payment is received (usually by check), we send a Credit Transfer Certificate that serves as your receipt and as documentation for the regulatory agency, along with a copy of the official credit ledger recording the sale.
Quotes usually go out within a business day of your inquiry. The certificate is issued as soon as payment clears, so the overall timeline mostly depends on your side: how quickly you confirm the quote and send payment. If you have a permit deadline, tell us in your inquiry and we will work to it.
Credits must be used in the watershed where they were generated. Our Neuse credits serve the Neuse River basin below Falls Lake Dam (HUC 03020201, excluding the Falls Lake watershed); our Jordan Lake credits serve the Upper New Hope arm; and our Tennessee stream credits serve the Hiwassee watershed with Watts Bar Lake and Middle Tennessee–Chickamauga as secondary areas. The fastest check is to type your project address into the service-area map. If you’re still unsure, send us the address and we’ll confirm.
Three kinds: nutrient offset credits in pounds of nitrogen (Neuse and Jordan Lake) and phosphorus (Jordan Lake); riparian buffer credits in square feet (Neuse and Jordan Lake); and stream mitigation credits quantified with the Tennessee SQT (Porterhouse Valley Mitigation Bank).
Send us your project location and the quantity your permit requires. We reply by email with pricing and availability.