About DMS

The North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services is a nationally recognized Department of Environmental Quality initiative that restores and protects wetlands and waterways for future generations while offsetting unavoidable environmental impacts from development. DMS supports environmentally responsible economic development through the procurement of high-quality restoration projects that satisfy mitigation requirements. From the mountains to the coast on nearly 900 projects, DMS has protected and restored more than four-million feet of stream and over 80,000 acres of natural areas.

Protecting North Carolina's natural resources is critical to maintaining the state's quality of life, its economic growth and the health and well-being of its residents. DMS works hard to ensure that cost-effective mitigation alternatives succeed in order to benefit the state's water resources.

DMS offers four In-Lieu Fee mitigation programs designed to assist private and public entities in meeting state and federal compensatory mitigation and nutrient offset requirements.  DMS has worked to maximize over $1 Billion in mitigation investments to restore streams, wetlands and riparian buffer areas using a watershed approach by working with state and local partners and willing landowners. The N.C. Department of Transportation and other developers voluntarily use DMS to move development projects forward in a timely and cost effective manner.