AloTerra staff bring over twenty years of experience developing and managing ecological assessment and monitoring programs related to conservation impacts in grassland, riparian, wetland, alpine, ponderosa pine and sagebrush ecosystems throughout Colorado and Wyoming. Our experience includes wildlife assessments and monitoring, rare plant surveys, habitat evaluations for Section 7 of ESA, and Clean Water Act compliance (section 404/USACE). AloTerra staff has not only conducted a great variety of standard assessments, but our staff are continually developing new protocols such as our Streambank Stability Assessment Protocol, Gulley Stabilization Assessments, River Health Assessments, and others.
Vegetation Monitoring
AloTerra staff have conducted line-point intercept and Daubenmire vegetation monitoring for research and bond-release purposes, developed and conducted forest inventory surveys, conducted wetland delineations and OHWM surveys, and conducted rare plant surveys and plant community monitoring on Federal, state, and local properties for 20 years. This work has been conducted in association with post-fire and post-flood assessment and restoration projects, invasive species management, grazing, recreational trail projects, mine reclamation projects, regulatory requirements, and ecological restoration projects in upper montane, grassland, desert, riparian, and alpine habitats in Colorado, Wyoming, California, and Arizona. Rare plant surveys include focused intuitive controlled surveys for the USFS on four forests in Region 2, documenting and reporting element occurrences.
Riparian Plant Assessments, Mapping, and Harvest Strategies (CO). 1998-2018
AloTerra staff has performed river and riparian assessments and riparian ecological design on over 250 miles of stream in Colorado over 20 years. This work included Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (NRCS), River & Riparian Health Assessments, Streambank & Gulley Stability Assessments, and others. This work included regional mapping of willows for post-flood recovery projects, including proper species identification and assessment of willow stand health in five major watersheds on the Front Range. AloTerra has sourced and harvested over 150,000 willow cuttings to support restoration projects from alpine to plains riparian associations, and sourced and harvest seeds and berries to supply local nurseries with over 15,000 container shrubs and trees for flood recovery. Our work has included the assessment and mapping of over 160 miles of riparian corridors in seven watersheds on the Front Range of Colorado, and in Wyoming and California.
Wetland Delineations & Permitting
AloTerra staff has completed over 30 wetland delineations and ordinary high water mark surveys, and has completed more than 18 pre-construction notifications (Nationwide 27, 37, 14, 11, 3, and others) and individual permits to meet USACE/404 compliance requirements, all resulting in successfully permitted river and wetland restoration projects. Wetland delineations are performed according to the USACE May 2010 Regional Supplement to 1987 Wetlands Delineation Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coastal Regions, Version 2.0 or as appropriate for the region in question. Data from delineations is mapped and used to understand the level of impact from planned construction/restoration activities (i.e., conflict areas), and to inform a Pre-construction Notification. For river-related projects, an Ordinary High-Water Mark (OHWM) survey is conducted following USACE guidelines in the 2005 USACE Regulatory Guidance Letter 05-05, Ordinary High Water Mark Identification.
Photo above is for wetland delineation section.