Wetland credit buyers beware! 
BWSR has modified its wetland banking withdrawal and deposit forms and has also created a combination replacement plan application and credit withdrawal form for the newly established Ag Bank. The new forms can be seen on the BWSR website at the link below.
http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/wetlandbanking/forms.html
Working with the new Application for Withdrawal on a credit purchase this week leaves us with mixed reactions. On the positive side, the new form is cleaner in design, shorter and more simplified than the previous one. These changes, along with any changes to simplify the banking process, are always welcomed and appreciated.
On the negative side, a major concern we have in the new form is although the order of the information boxes seems logical at first, the way they are arranged suggests that the buyer must first confirm that credits have been purchased before the LGU or NRCS signs to approve the plan. As a buyer, I would obviously want signed approval of my plan prior to purchasing credits, or I could end up with $1000’s of dollars of credits that cannot be used, returned or resold.
For clarification, we talked with Ken Powell, BWSR’s bank administrator. Ken assured us that the boxes are NOT required to be signed in order, and that the numbering system is simply for reference. Based on this, the Wetland Credit Agency highly recommends that credit buyers do not sign box 2 until the LGU or NRCS has approved the project by signing in box 3.
What is your opinion? Let us know what you think of the new forms.
