Biological Services

Wildlife

NRM Wildlife Biologists conduct surveys, habitat assessments, environmental impact assessments, mitigation plans and endangered & special-status species consultations.

NRM provides clients with a comprehensive wildlife assessment program emphasizing inventory and management of threatened, endangered and sensitive wildlife species. Since 1991, NRM has

conducted roughly 4,500 marbled murrelet surveys and inventoried more than 250,000 acres for northern spotted owls. Extensive surveys have also been conducted for the northern goshawk, red tree vole, golden eagle, great gray owl and Pacific fisher, as well as various amphibians, reptiles and mollusks. Staff wildlife biologists, working in conjunction with aerial photo interpretation specialists, have assisted in the modification of the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (WHR) System to provide the level of site specific information required for biological evaluations associated with specific wildlife habitat assessments and various proposed projects. NRM’s wildlife biologists have conducted consultations for both the California and Federal Endangered

Species Acts. Information gathered from surveys and consultations has supported project permitting, Biological Assessment (BA) and Biological Evaluation (BE) reports for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements and other numerous reports for project documentation.

Fisheries

NRM Fisheries Biologists conduct surveys and habitat assessments, prepare management guidelines and mitigation and monitoring plans, participate in ESA Section 7 & 10 consultations and prepare watershed analysis documents under the Federal and State of Washington's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) methods.

NRM fisheries biologists have performed a wide variety of work on public and private land. Work experience includes fish and amphibian habitat and impact assessment, fish species composition and distribution, downstream migrant fish trapping, electrofishing studies, riparian condition surveys, water temperature monitoring, road-related erosion and sediment source inventories and culvert risk analysis. They have participated in a number of projects on mainstem rivers related to flood control, sediment transport and gravel extraction, project-related impact assessment and permitting and habitat analyses. They routinely work with the other skilled staff at NRM and/or associates to assist utility companies in meeting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) re-licensing requirements and mining industry compliance regulations. The biologists have prepared fisheries and watershed sections for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), federal and private Watershed Analyses, Environmental Assessments (EA), Biological Assessments (BA) and watershed

rehabilitation plans. They have been involved in Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plans (MSHCP) and have contributed to various California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents. The NRM fisheries biologists have participated in several Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultations with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

Botany

NRM Botanists conduct surveys, habitat assessments, mitigation & monitoring plans, impact analyses and consultations for endangered, threatened and other special-status species.

NRM staff botanists perform in-depth botanical evaluations and

field surveys for the presence and potential habitat of sensitive (rare, threatened, and endangered) plant and lichen species, with particular expertise in the regions of Northern California, the Sierra Nevadas and Oregon. Botanical surveys are typically implemented for environmental and biological assessments and as a part of planning for land development and various proposed actions by state and federal governments and landowners. NRM conducts wetland assessments and delineations and prepares and implements wetland mitigation and monitoring plans for projects across the region, including in the Coastal Zone. NRM also conducts aerial photographic analysis (with field verification) to

delineate riparian and other vegetation types and determine habitat quality and quantity. Our botanists are experienced in various vegetation sampling techniques including relevé and rapid assessment methodologies.

Species Monitoring/Habitat Assessment

NRM has monitored numerous species comprised of birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, plants, lichen, fungi, mammals and mollusks and has conducted biological assessments in an exhaustive number of habitats, each presenting a unique set of species. Habitats include coastal dunes, salt marshes, prairies, grass lands, oak woodlands, coastal and montane coniferous forests,

riparian forests, wetlands and serpentine zones. In each of these habitats, NRM biologists and botanists employ invaluable professional field experiences to properly assess subtle, yet important, facets of species behavior and occurrences.