Washington State Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Land Habitat Conservation Plan Environmental Impact Statement

Client: Washington Department of Natural Resources

Location: Washington

Summary: Cardno ENTRIX, under a subcontractor agreement, assisted the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) in developing an EIS for the State-owned aquatic lands habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The HCP for State-owned aquatic lands is a plan to conserve habitat of threatened, endangered, and other species of concern that can be affected by activities on state-owned aquatic lands. Cardno ENTRIX economists were responsible for writing the Socioeconomic and Environmental Justice sections of the EIS report. This EIS was undertaken specifically to respond to Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements. Covered activities included aquaculture, overwater structures and log booming. Related to these activities the WDNR holds approximately 1,700 leases with individuals and organizations using the aquatic land for enterprises such as marinas, yacht clubs, logging and aquaculture businesses. Our Cardno ENTRIX economists provided a framework to describe potential economic impacts that could occur overtime as the habitat convservation plan is implemented. Additionally the economists were asked to develop a description of the value of the ecosystem services that would be produced from implementation of the HCP.