Services we provide
Natural Resources and Ecological Services
GZA understands that as projects are built within our natural environment, ecosystems and habitats are affected as an inevitable result of land development practices.
"It took our commission a long time to initiate this project but your swift, thoughtful responses, proactive planning and aggressive scheduling enabled us to quickly resolve a number of publicly troublesome issues. Your willingness to, literally, “jump in” and take responsibility is both refreshing and educational."
–Gage Perry, Town of Merrimack
In the design phase, GZA works closely with the project team on design specifics, best management practices, and practical solutions to restore sensitive natural environments as part of project implementation that often improve the local functional ecology.
Our natural resources services successfully manages project milestones, while avoiding and limiting potential impacts through design and construction phases. With specialists across the country, GZA can respond with local knowledge of your watershed and ecosystem, providing comprehensive ecological services and natural resource services. Because GZA is a multidisciplinary firm, we mobilize quickly to address other project-related issues as they emerge, responding to engineering challenges, environmental requirements, water needs, or construction management demands.
We get your market.
GZA has experts that routinely work in many unique natural communities, including exemplary natural communities, vernal pools, upland ecosystems, as well as freshwater and marine aquatic environments.
Our ecological services personnel include credentialed practitioners who have been approved by state and federal agencies for investigation of various faunal and floral groups. Our scientists bring a passion to their work that is obvious in our work products and relationships with regulators, and transitions to benefits to our clients. GZA routinely supports projects with a variety of site-specific surveys to address protected species and habitats, as well as invasive species management. GZA is often referred to site owners and contractors for our expertise and reputation for practical monitoring and management plan implementation in this area.
- Aquatic, Wetland and Upland Habitat Assessments
- Vernal Pool Assessments
- Natural Community Identification, Sampling & Mapping
- Habitat Management & Planning
- Mist Net Sampling
- Aquatic Invertebrate Sampling
- Botanical Inventories
- Rare Plant Management
- Wetland Planting Plans
- Habitat Restoration & Protection Planning
- Vegetation Management Planning
GZA's ecological scientists and planners provide small- to large- scale ecological restoration designs for various marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats. We also excel at the construction phase, and have implemented many restoration plans and habitat creation projects.
We have advanced our concepts and designs over the past several decades and provide leadership in these areas of applied science and regulation. GZA is known for our ability to combine our expertise in the various sciences with the practical aspects of constructing projects, developing successful restoration and mitigation plans, and striking the balance between regulatory requirements and project costs related to ecological attributes.
- Lakes Restoration
- Stream and Bank Restoration
- Riparian Habitat Restoration
- Vernal Pool Restoration and Creation
- Salt Marsh and Coastal Bank Restoration
- Wetlands Restoration and Enhancement
- Forest Management and Reforestation
- Rare Species Habitat Restoration
- Reclamation of Surface Mining Area
- Ecological Restoration of Urban Landscapes
GZA has professional planners and scientists that evaluate and prepare National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related compliance documents for various public and private transportation, utility, energy, and development projects throughout the U.S.
In addition, GZA experts also assist clients in complying with numerous states NEPA-type laws and regulations that require similar report production and public participation efforts. GZA excels at developing the needed documentation, sampling, analysis, and supporting documentation to satisfy the regulatory requirements, from project planning through construction phase.
- Air Quality Analysis
- Noise Monitoring & Prediction
- Wetland Delineation & Mitigation
- Rare Species Surveys & Mitigation
- Ecological Risk Assessment
- Water Quality Modeling
- Visual Impact Assessment
- Environmental Site Assessment
- Identification of Permits
- Socioeconomic Environment
- Public Outreach
- Property Impact Assessment
- Economic Impact Analysis
GZA’s multidisciplinary professionals offer invaluable experience in managing construction phase permit compliance and maintaining oversight of erosion and sediment control.
GZA has built a reputation with utilities and contractors for a reliable and programmatic approach to construction compliance and reporting.
- Erosion and Sedimentation Control Management
- Best Management Practices (BMPs)
- Vulnerability Evaluations
- NPDES Permitting Exclusions
- Contractor Support
- Third Party Inspections
- Agency Reporting
- Project Closeout Documentation
GZA’s team deals swiftly with plant and invertebrate invasive species that threaten our ecological landscape.
GZA’s ecologists, biologists, and natural resource management personnel use their extensive expertise in botany and aquatic/wildlife ecology to address emerging issues as they affect client projects in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Vegetation management by our foresters, arborists, landscape designers, engineers and scientists include plans for natural methods, herbicide applications, and oversight of contractors during tree clearing and vegetation control.
- Identification & Mapping of Invasive Plants and Pests
- Hazard Tree Identification
- Vulnerability Assessments
- Evaluation of Alternative Biological, Physical, Chemical Controls
- Project Planning with Vegetation Management Plans and Invasive Species Control Plans
- Project permitting with Invasive Species Management
- Hands-on Treatment
- Monitoring of Site Control Efficacy & Adaptive Management
GZA has designed and constructed numerous successful freshwater and marine wetland creation and enhancement sites that are built to last.
As part of our natural resources services, GZA has experienced, credentialed wetland scientists and soil scientists that can assist your projects where wetland identification, assessment, and mitigation is needed and has extensive experience designing, implementing compliance monitoring for new replacement wetlands or enhancing existing disturbed wetland resources, to assist in the regulatory compliance requirements for client projects. Systems include forested swamps, shrub/scrub swamps, vernal pools, riparian wetlands, wet meadows and salt marsh.
- Freshwater and Marine Wetland Creation
- Stream Creation
- Wetland Identification
- Assessment and Mitigation
- Compliance Monitoring
- Wetland and Surface Water Delineation
- Tide Line Delineation & Tide Chart Analysis
Round Pond - Natural Resources Impact Analysis
Borrego Solar Phase I Northern Long-Eared Bat Habitat Assessments
Threatened and Endangered Species Survey
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