July 25th, 2006. The Flint Creek Wetlands Mitigation Bank, a 657 acre wetland preserve located on Highway 36, three miles west of Hartselle, was deeded to Morgan County by Robinsong Ecological Resources, Inc. at a recent ceremony at the Agricultural Service Center near Hartselle. The property transfer was the culmination of an agreement made in 1998 between Cynthia Robinson, the CEO of Robinsong’s, and the Morgan County Commission. Robinsong committed to the restoration of the 657-acre cattle and grain farm to a hardwood bottom wetland and agreed to deed it to the county after its wetland credits were sold. The Morgan County Commission will provide perpetual care for the wetland through management by the Morgan County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Flint Creek Watershed Conservancy District to compensate for its stewardship. Robinsong deeded four acres to the county at the start of the process so that a facility could be built onsite to house the offices of the USDA-NRCS, Morgan County SWCD, and the Flint Creek Watershed Conservancy.

As a part of the wetland restoration, 160,000 trees in ten different native species were planted, including several species of oak, bald cypress and river birch. Next came five years of monitoring, sampling and report writing to document the progress of vegetation and hydrology.

Foy Kirkland, Morgan County NRCS District Conservationist, quantified the ecological success of the mitigation bank and called attention to some of the conservation activities it supports. "Prior to authorization of the wetland mitigation bank, approximately 524 acres of the farm were managed for silage crops that contributed an estimated 15 tons per acre per year of sediment to the down-stream watershed. With the land cover change to trees and grasses, a quality wildlife habitat was created and a 524 acre filter was restored that now contributes less than one ton per acre per year and also removes sediment and nutrients from hundreds of acres up stream. In addition, the bank is actively being utilized as a 657 acre outdoor conservation education classroom for area students by the NRCS and the Morgan County SWCD," he said.