ELI’s groundbreaking mitigation research continues with the completion of the 2005 Status Report on Compensatory Mitigation in the United States. The report, an update of the seminal 2001 Banks and Fees Study, is designed to determine the extent and nature of wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu fee mitigation activities in the nation. It examines all active wetland mitigation banks, in-lieu fee programs, and umbrella banking operations, as well as all inactive and pending programs, that are used to mitigate for impacts and violations under §404 of the Clean Water Act. The report is intended to provide citizen groups, local, state, and federal agencies, the public, and the regulated community with the information they need to evaluate the ability of wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu fee mitigation to achieve their regional wetland conservation and land use planning objectives. The study was made possible by a generous grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.