MARYSVILE – Snohomish County’s most popular farm will likely be flooded within the next two years to create a wetland that could generate millions of dollars for the Port of Everett and a private partner.
Biringer Farm, which has employed many area people as berry pickers and hosted thousands of others as part of Marysville’s annual Strawberry Festival, will be turned into a “wetlands bank” if the idea wins approval from the port’s commissioners.
The 350-acre farm adjacent to I-5 just south of Marysville was purchased by the port in 1993 for about $3.3 million. It has continued to be farmed by Mike and Diane Biringer, who lease it from the port.
Port officials breached dikes on part of the property to create a new wetland to make up for areas that were filled along the Everett waterfront. Under a plan unveiled Tuesday morning, the agency would partner with the company Environmental Restoration to flood the rest and sell wetland credits to developers whose projects destroy areas in the same watershed.
Credits would likely sell for $150,000 an acre. Not all of the farm would become an acceptable wetland, but the property should produce enough credits to bring in an estimated $34 million to be split between the port and Environmental Restoration, officials said.
The Biringers, who attended the port meeting, said they’re hoping to find a way to continue farming a portion of the property.
“We originally sold knowing that this was the idea,” Mike Biringer said. “But this isn’t a done deal yet. If they do the whole thing, we’ll have to think about looking for another farm.”
No decision has been made on the proposal, but the commission could take action at its meeting on Tuesday.
Bob Sokolove of Environmental Restoration said his company has built three wetland banks in other parts of the United States. The way they work, he said, is that an agreement is reached with various regulatory agencies about the wetland and its environmental value. Then portions of it are sold to developers who have been ordered to make up for wetland losses tied to their development projects.
The federal government, he said, likes the idea of wetland banks because large projects are generally better for the environment than a bunch of small ones, especially if those are poorly designed and maintained. Federal law, he said, requires federal road projects to buy credits from a wetland bank if there is one near the project.
“If we build it, they have to come,” Sokolove said.
At Biringer’s, he added, it would likely take 12 to 18 months to negotiate an agreement with the various agencies. Then dikes would be breached and the farm would likely be flooded all at once.
“It’s not a particularly difficult job, it’s just a fairly large job,” he said.
Under the agreement, the port would buy 15 credits a year for four years to cover wetland creation that it needs for its own projects. It would get those credits at $75,000 each. Environmental Restoration would invest about $4.5 million to create the new wetland. And the two entities would split the profits, with the port continuing to own the land.
Or the area could be donated to a nonprofit group such as Ducks Unlimited for wildlife habitat.
“We look at it as a good business proposition,” port director John Mohr said.
Sokolove said the Biringer wetland would be significant because of its location in the Snohomish River tidal basin and its importance as habitat for salmon.
“This will really bring the site back to the way nature envisioned it,” Sokolove said.
Herald writer Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459 or benbow@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
