Natural Resources Management and Ecological Services

The Redhorse energy, engineering, and environmental professionals serve a variety of clientele from both industry and the regulatory agencies.  We have a broad range of ecological services capabilities, including baseline inventories of natural resources, habitat assessments, wetland delineations, special-status species inventories, non-native species management, Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations, and ecological restoration.  Our professionals have extensive experience in managing and developing documentation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its counterparts in state law.  These services also have been provided in support of the energy sector, particularly for transmission lines, natural gas pipelines, and power generation.

Our team has worked on dozens of NEPA documents, including complicated Environmental Impact Statements.  We have extensive experience with the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), California Department of Fish and Game, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, and many other state and local agencies.

Capabilities

The Redhorse team offers a wide range of environmental planning and terrestrial and aquatic ecological services, including:

• Baseline biological assessments
• Habitat assessments
• Fisheries and benthic organism assessments
• Threatened, endangered, and special-status species assessments
• Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultation
• Document preparation under NEPA and state laws
• Ecological restoration
• Mitigation monitoring
• Clean Water Act Section 404 wetland delineation
• Clean Water Act Section 316b Evaluations

Baseline Biological and Habitat Assessments: We have managed and performed more than 40 baseline biological resource inventories for a variety of projects, including large-scale transmission lines (such as a 345-kilovolt [kV] transmission line along 345 miles of alternative routes in eastern Nevada) and other linear corridors such as pipelines.  We have developed vegetation sampling protocols for the BLM, used rapid assessment protocols for vegetation and habitat assessments, and conducted watershed assessments.  The Redhorse team has performed surveys of small mammals, breeding birds, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates, and characterized and mapped habitat via vegetation sampling on thousands of acres of private and public lands.  We have prepared habitat assessments for a variety of special-status species, including birds, mammals (bats, meso-carnivores, and small mammals), invertebrate, amphibian, reptiles, flora, and big game species.  We have mapped and inventoried non-native invasive species on all projects under the public domain as well as on military installations.  Additionally, we have developed geographic information system (GIS) data sets for use in further studies and routing and siting analysis.

Fisheries and Benthic Organism Assessments:  We have extensive experience with anadromous fisheries, and particularly salmonids.  Our team of specialists has conducted numerous stream and coastal surveys for fisheries, spawning and rearing habitat, and essential fish habitat, as well as long-term temperature conditions of aquatic systems.  We have prepared inventories of freshwater and marine invertebrates to assess water quality and impacts associated with water treatment outfalls and power plant discharges.  The Redhorse team also has produced constraints analysis for proposed actions as they relate to aquatic organisms, primarily for in-stream actions and bridge abutments, and assessing impacts to dewatering aquatic systems.

Threatened, Endangered and Special-status Species Assessments:  We have performed inventories for a variety of special-status species, including plants, avian, amphibian, mammal, reptiles, and fish, and have produced findings reports.  In addition, we have developed habitat suitability analysis for special-status species for large landscape-scale projects, as well as constraints analysis for a variety of projects.  The Redhorse professionals have worked with local wildlife and botanical experts as well as state and federal wildlife agencies to obtain local insight, expert input, and assistance in inventory and impact analysis of the species.  We also have contributed to expert analysis on salmonids and have provided expert testimony on in-stream impacts.

Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation: We have developed biological assessments for terrestrial and aquatic Endangered Species Act consultation in Nevada, California, and Oregon.  Our team has participated in dozens of formal and informal consultations with the USFWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  We have contributed to development of habitat conservation plans that cover the actions of multiple years of projects and multiple species under the ESA. We have also developed a Safe Harbor Agreement between a large municipality and the USFWS for ESA coverage.

Document Preparation under NEPA and State Laws:  Our team includes environmental planners and project managers as well as the technical professionals who have managed and developed portions of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Supplemental EISs, and Environmental Assessments.  We have a broad understanding of the NEPA process from a variety of perspectives, including of the authorizing agency, the regulatory agencies, and the project proponents.  We have worked with diverse EIS teams and stakeholders on a variety of complex documents, including BLM resource management plans, precious minerals mines, and energy projects.  We have assisted authorizing agencies with public scoping and development of the Notice of Proposed Action and the Records of Decision.

Ecological Restoration:  Our team has extensive experience in restoration projects, particularly in riverine and wetland restoration.  We have experience in rangeland, forest, and grassland restoration as well.  Our team has also developed non-native species management plans for a variety of clients.  Much of our work has been in coordination with USFWS and non-profit organizations such as The Nature Conservancy.  We have worked on highly degraded systems such as the Truckee and Carson Rivers, working with engineers, geomorphologists, and hydrologists toward a defined future condition; likewise, we have implemented riverine restoration for historical habitat values, increased fisheries habitat, riparian development, multi-spatial habitat for avian and other species, and increased flood capacity.

Mitigation Monitoring:  Our professionals have decades of experience in mitigation monitoring and monitoring post-restoration projects.  We have conducted fish population and habitat surveys pursuant to monitoring requirements contained in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license agreements.  Our team has conducted multi-parameter erosion control and restoration monitoring in compliance with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s strict sediment and restoration standards.  This monitoring experience has ranged from straightforward construction monitoring to complex statistically robust sampling protocols to demonstrate the success of a mitigation plan.

Clean Water Act Section 404 Wetland Delineation:  The Redhorse team includes 40-hour certified wetland ecologists who have performed dozens of wetland delineations, assessments, and determinations, primarily in Nevada and California.  We have worked on letters of permission with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certifications in compliance with state standards.

Clean Water Act Section 316b Evaluations: We have conduced Clean Water Act Section 316b evaluations for a variety of intake and discharge structures, including a contaminant remediation project along the Lower Colorado River, domestic water intakes, and tide gate repairs at an energy facility in Humboldt Bay.  All evaluations encompassed fish removal protocols, screening criteria, and other proactive measures.  We have worked with NOAA Fisheries in development of entrainment, impingement, and stranding standards for fish screens.