| Conservation banks have played an important role in California to offset impacts on federally and state-regulated species and resources. Over the last 20 years, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved nearly 80 banks, which provide convenient and efficient mitigation solutions for project proponents. These banks are as biologically diverse as they are geospatially distributed. They are preserved in perpetuity and endowed for management and monitoring. Creation of long-lived bat roost habitat at existing and future banks, within the matrix of high-quality open spaces, could provide solutions for loss of regional roosting resources. Although impacts to terrestrial species and habitats are readily quantifiable (e.g., acres, linear feet, etc.), quantifying impacts to roosting resources is more complicated, and forming consensus around possible crediting schema has proven difficult. I invite the Western Bat Working Group to weigh in on this issue to determine if land banking could play a role in the conservation of bats in California. |