Service area · North Carolina · HUC 03020201
Nitrogen nutrient offset and riparian buffer credits from approved restoration sites in the Neuse River basin, for development projects in Raleigh, Johnston County, Wayne County and beyond.
The Neuse River carries drinking water, supports one of the East Coast’s most productive estuaries, and drains the fastest-growing part of North Carolina. Since the late 1990s, the state’s Neuse Nutrient Sensitive Waters strategy has required new development and other sources in the basin to limit the nitrogen they send downstream and to protect forested buffers along streams.
RestorEcology generates two kinds of credits that help projects in the Neuse basin comply:
Both are produced by converting farmed land along streams into permanently protected forested buffer, then monitored and approved by the NC Division of Water Resources (DWR).
Our Neuse credits can be used anywhere in cataloging unit 03020201, the portion of the Neuse River basin below Falls Lake Dam and above New Bern. The service area excludes the Falls Lake watershed, which has its own nutrient strategy and separate credit market. It includes Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale, Clayton, Smithfield, Selma, Goldsboro and most of Wake, Johnston and Wayne counties.
Not sure whether your project falls inside the line? Enter the address on our service-area map, or send it to us and we will confirm.
RestorEcology has six projects in the Neuse River basin. Three are privately held mitigation sites with credits available for sale now: Brooks Swamp, Green Heron and Sand Hill, all in Wayne County. The other three, Edwards Branch, Jacks Bluff and Heritage, are full-delivery projects we are building for the NC Division of Mitigation Services; their credits go to the state’s in-lieu fee program.
Together these sites cover more than 155 acres of former cropland and cutover timber along Coastal Plain streams, replanted with tens of thousands of native hardwoods.
Request a quote with your project name, location and the quantity your permit requires. We reply by email with pricing and availability. After you confirm, we issue an invoice; once payment is received we deliver a Credit Transfer Certificate for your permit file and a copy of the DWR-approved credit ledger showing the transaction.
Service area map
Credits must be used within the service area where they were generated. Enter your project address on our interactive map to check in seconds, or send us the address and we'll confirm.
Projects
Every credit we sell traces back to a specific, approved restoration site. Here are ours in this watershed.
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.
Neuse River · Wayne County, NC · 35.4 acres
35.4-acre full-delivery project for the NC Division of Mitigation Services on Edwards Branch near Grantham. About 15,000 native hardwoods to be planted in the 2026–27 dormant season.
Neuse River · Wayne County, NC · 14.3 acres
14.3-acre full-delivery project for the NC Division of Mitigation Services on the Neuse River near Goldsboro. About 11.5 acres of cropland to be planted in native hardwoods in winter 2027–28.
Neuse River · Wayne County, NC · 26.9 acres
26.9-acre full-delivery project for the NC Division of Mitigation Services southwest of Goldsboro. About 15.4 acres of farmland to be planted in native hardwoods in winter 2027–28.
Credit types
Sold in pounds of nitrogen or phosphorus
Per-pound nitrogen and phosphorus credits that let development meet Neuse and Jordan Lake stormwater nutrient targets when on-site measures aren't enough.
Learn more
Sold in square feet of buffer mitigation
Square-foot buffer mitigation credits for impacts to protected 50-foot stream buffers in the Neuse basin and Jordan Lake watershed.
Learn moreTell us your project location, the credit type and the quantity your permit requires. We'll email pricing and availability.