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Committee recommends deed restrictions to protect about 750 acres of forest mitigation land
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Summary
Staff asked the committee to recommend that member entities adopt deed restrictions making approximately 750 acres reserved for forest mitigation and limited to forest uses in perpetuity as a permit condition of the FM diversion project; committee approved the recommendation.
The Land Management Committee recommended that the authority’s member entities approve deed restrictions to preserve approximately 750 acres as forest mitigation for the FM diversion project.
John Shockley told the committee the restriction is a programmatic requirement of environmental permitting for the FM diversion work and would ensure affected parcels are "used for forest purposes and forest mitigation purposes in perpetuity," preventing sale and conversion that would undermine mitigation goals. He said the parcels include land owned by member entities such as Cass County and regional JPAs and span both sides of the river. (Mister Shockley)
Committee members asked whether adaptive management provisions would allow tree removal in response to pests or disease. Shockley and other staff explained that the adaptive mitigation management plan (AMMP) includes permitted activities and a team of resource agencies that could recommend targeted removals (for example, to address Emerald Ash Borer) and that in some circumstances staff and Corps foresters prefer to leave deadwood as wildlife habitat while balancing fire risk and restoration needs.
A motion to recommend member-entity approval of the forest mitigation deed restriction and to authorize necessary title transfers was moved, seconded and carried on a roll-call vote.
Why it matters: deed restrictions will lock affected parcels to forest/mitigation uses required by environmental permits, shaping long-term land use and limiting sale or conversion of those acres.
What’s next: the committee’s recommendation will be sent to member entities for approval and any necessary title transfers.
