Wetland Functional Assessment

Wetland Functional Assessments (FA) may be required for development projects when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) determines that a compensatory mitigation strategy will be necessary because substantial wetland losses will be unavoidable. FAs help determine the monetary values of wetland types lost relative to other wetlands that are preserved by the contribution of funds to a wetland bank. ABR is a leader in Alaska when it comes to efficiently producing FAs. Our wetland team members are experts in established functional assessment methods including WESPAK-SE and WESPAK-INT, the Anchorage Debit Credit Method, the Stream Functions Pyramid, Magee (1998), USACE Alaska District wetland debit-credit calculations, and Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classification. In addition, we have worked with USACE to establish an Alaska-specific methodology for producing USACE approved FAs. We call it the Alaska Functional Ranking System (AFRS). AFRS is a rapid assessment tool designed to make FA production as fast and inexpensive as possible, without sacrificing accuracy and quality.