Return to main report: Vanishing wetlands

Wetland mitigation banking in Florida is a billion-dollar business – and experts predict the number of banks will double if new rules under consideration in Washington area pproved in 2007. The service areas, where a bank is allowed to sell credits, for Florida's banks cover half the state.

About the map
Florida's Mitigation Banks The mitigation banking business in Florida is big, and about to get bigger. The map above is an interactive presentation of Florida Department of Environmental Protection data on currently permitted banks.

Caveats: The bank boundary lines are provided as reference. They were obtained from the Florida DEP, and the boundary lines were derived from several sources. At very close zoom levels, the lines may not line up correctly because of differences in map scales. The points represent the geographic centers of the banks, and the acreage figures come from the FDEP. The acre figures do not represent the number of credits each bank is worth.

Instructions:
1. Each point on the map is clickable. Clicking on the point will reveal the name of the bank and how many acres it is.
2. After clicking on a bank, you can use the long vertical slider bar on the left side to zoom in on the bank. In the map view, you'll be able to see landmarks, cities and roads surrounding the banks.
3. After zooming in on a bank, try clicking on the satellite or hybrid buttons on the top right side of the map. The Satellite button will bring in satellite imagery for the area, showing what the bank looks like. The hybrid map will also bring in satellite images, as well as road maps to provide context.