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Great Dismal Swamp In June, 2007, in partnership with Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP), LFF purchased a 1,037 acre property within the acquisition boundary of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia. The parcel is the largest private in-holding in the Refuge and one of the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s, the State of Virginia’s, and the Nature Conservancy’s top priorities for conservation in the State. The property had been ditched and drained and was being used primarily for agriculture. The ecological objective of the project is to restore the natural hydrological processes and swamp forest vegetation to the property. The primary financial objective is to establish a wetland mitigation bank and sell credits for this work. Secondary financial objectives include limited forestry, recreation and sale of additional “ecosystem services”. The probable exit strategy will be a sale of the property to the federal government for inclusion in the Refuge.
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