Domain Capital Group, LLC, a comprehensive private investment management services firm, and its subsidiary, Domain Timber Advisors, LLC (DTA), today announced a transaction involving a high-profile Oregon Superfund site and its co-investment vehicle that focuses on ecological restoration projects that generate environmental offset credits.
Domain received an award of funds for the transfer of more than 20 Discounted-Service-Acre-Year (DSAY) credits from their Alder Creek Restoration Project, after completion of a live auction conducted by the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council. A DSAY represents the annual value of all ecosystem services provided by one acre of restored habitat as determined by a Habitat Equivalency Analysis performed during the Alder Creek permitting process.
Located on 52 acres at the southern tip of Sauvie Island along the confluence of the Multnomah Channel and Willamette River, the Alder Creek project was the first habitat restoration effort implemented specifically to benefit fish and wildlife affected by years of industrial contamination in Portland Harbor.
“Hundreds of acres of rare, sensitive wildlife habitats that once thrived and were abundant suffered from the impacts of heavy industry operating along the waterway,” said Alton Owens, Domain’s Director of Natural Capital. “Restoration activities at Alder Creek included removal of a decommissioned sawmill, excavation of non-native fill and replacement of native soils in the floodplain, reshaping of natural riverbanks, planting of native trees, shrubs, and grasses, creation of shallow water channels, beaches and mudflats, and seasonal wetlands.
“The aquatic habitats created provide resting and feeding areas for young salmon and lamprey, as well as foraging areas for resident and migratory birds. Along the shore, improved beaches, wetlands, and riparian habitat provide access to suitable refuge for mink, while forests provide shelter and nesting sites for a variety of native wildlife,” Owens added. “We are incredibly excited about the continued ecological success story of Alder Creek, which both achieves the investment objective of our fund and makes a lasting impact on such a historically important ecosystem.”
In conjunction with the Portland Harbor Trustee Council, the project was developed and is managed by the fund’s operating partner; Rocklin, California-based Wildlands, Inc., an industry leader in habitat mitigation solutions. Wildlands assists public and private developers in complying with complex resource agency permit requirements through the restoration of regulated streams, wetlands, and rare species’ habitat.
