Banking on the Bayou

The LaTerre wetland mitigation bank, located in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, is designed to extend the life of a freshwater marsh that is threatened by saltwater intrusion. Critics of the bank have argued that mitigation banking should occur only on permanent wetland areas, not disappearing wetlands. Proponents of the bank, however, claim that the protection of thousands of acres of wetlands in one trust provides better wildlife habitat than would a series of on-site mitigation actions.