The Emergence of Conservation Banking in Southern California

Abstract

On April 7, 1995, Bank of America and federal and state environmental regulators announced a bold innovation: the creation of the firstconservation bankin the United States, to be located on property known as Carlsbad Highlands on the California coast north of San Diego. As defined by the bank and its partners, a conservation bank was a parcel of habitat managed for its natural resource values. The benefits of this management would be sold as `credits’ to private developers or public agencies to mitigate impacts to endangered or threatened species or biologically sensitive habitats, as required under environmental law. In this instance, credits in the Carlsbad Highlands conservation bank would be available for sale to developers requiring mitigation anywhere in San Diego County, on an acre for acre basis.

Research for this article was supported in part by the San Jose State University College of Business, which is gratefully acknowledged. The author was also would like to thank Bank of America; federal and state regulatory agencies; and Mike McCollum and Associates for their assistance.