Pinyon is supporting the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) with restoration planning, mitigation banking documentation, permitting, and final design for the Richardson Ranch Aquatic Resource Mitigation Project, a large-scale aquatic resource restoration effort designed to generate wetland and stream mitigation credits to offset future transportation impacts within the lower Clark Fork watershed.
The project includes restoration of approximately 2,240 feet of degraded stream channel, reconnection of the stream to its historic floodplain, establishment of a riparian corridor, and creation of approximately 6.7 acres of emergent wetlands. The project also incorporates fish habitat considerations and aquatic resource protection measures, including design of an in-line fish screen to protect native western cutthroat trout.
Additionally, Pinyon prepared the mitigation banking prospectus, draft and final banking instruments, and a complete plans, specifications, and estimate package while coordinating with the US Army Corp of Engineers, Interagency Review Team, and MDT stakeholders throughout project. Wetland and stream credits are being quantified using established functional assessment and stream mitigation methodologies, requiring integration of restoration design, hydrology, permitting, and crediting strategy.
