Representative Projects
Botanical Surveys, 1988 – 2022
Clients: National Forests and Parks: Rogue River-Siskiyou, Umpqua, Siuslaw, Gifford Pinchot, Deschutes, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie, Plumas, Lassen, Mt. Hood, Six Rivers, Arapaho-Roosevelt, Willamette, and Umatilla National Forests; Lewis & Clark National Historic Park, Lava Beds National Monument
Bureau of Land Management Districts: Medford, Lakeview, Roseburg, Coos Bay, Spokane, Vale
Private, Non-Profit and Other Clients: Cities of Jacksonville, Medford, and Ashland, Oregon, Army Corp of Engineers, Boise Cascade, Edge Environmental, Inc., JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc., Siskiyou Field Institute, Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, Bonneville Power Administration, Portland Metro Parks and Environmental Services Department, EM Strategies, Inc.
Since 1988, SBS botanists have conducted hundreds of small to large scale botanical surveys for Threatened and Endangered, BLM/Forest Service Sensitive, ONHP target species, and noxious weeds in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. SBS members have documented over 5,500 vascular and non-vascular special status plant sites, and our annual workload ranges from 30,000 to 40,000 acres.
Invasive Plant Survey Drone Mapping, Big Marsh Wetland, 2016
Client: Deschutes National Forest, Crescent Ranger District
SBS ecologists conducted drone supported surveys to map invasive reed canary grass in the 900 acre Big Marsh wetland in the Deschutes National Forest of central Oregon. SBS used “live” drone flight viewing of the field of flight and a laptop monitor to locate and identify reed canary grass infestations along inaccessible wetland areas. SBS used GIS-equipped drones to map and photograph weed infestations. Final deliverables included geographic-linked aerial photographs, a detailed map of infestation densities, and a Powerpoint presentation of field photographs.
Rangeland Evaluation and Monitoring (1993 – 2022)
Client: Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
SBS ecologists have been conducting long term rangeland monitoring plots for decades in botanically complex areas throughout the Siskiyou and Cascade Mountains. SBS staff use belt transects and full nested frequency macro plots, identify and document a complete inventory all species, measure total and relative frequency, and document photo point monitoring. Our ecologists have established and re-visited plots at five to ten year intervals and documented change in range condition and composition. Our data supports landowners manage rangeland ecosystems and analyze vegetation trends in grazing allotments, and has been significant in understanding the effects of expanding elk herds on the forage resources. SBS is known for its high level of completeness and accuracy in conducting this type of monitoring.
Lava Beds N.M. Cave Lichen Inventory and Visitor Impact, 2021 –2022)
Clients: Lava Beds National Monument, GeomorphIS
SBS botanists designed a lichen inventory in relation to visitor use and environmental conditions at caves in the Lava Beds National Monument. SBS staff provided expert lichen species identification, study design and data analysis, and ultimately a refined protocol to identify the condition and health of lichen communities in arid environments. The project identified lichen sensitivity and disturbance gradients at individual caves, to evaluate visitor use trampling effects.
Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline Corridor, Biological Resource Surveys 2007-2019
Clients: Williams Pipeline, Pembina Pipeline, Edge Environmental
SBS managed and conducted botanical and biological surveys for a proposed 230-mile LNG utility pipeline corridor from Coos Bay to Klamath County, Oregon. This highly complex project involved many plant and wildlife target species, varying regulations, and complex logistics across a linear footprint crossing multiple rivers and landscapes as well as three National Forests, four BLM Districts, State, Private and Bureau of Reclamation facilities. SBS designed survey protocols and provided geospatial (GIS) analysis and mapping products while conducting multiple field surveys for T&E plant species, Survey and Manage fungi species, Red Tree Voles, Northern Spotted Owls, Great Gray Owls, and Marbled Murrelets. Project Managers consulted with US Fish and Wildlife Service to assure that survey strategies continued to meet all project requirements.
Lower Snake River Restoration Planting Design (2011-2013)
Clients: Applied EarthWorks, US Army Corps of Engineers
SBS restoration ecologists were the lead native vegetation design team in a multi-party team headed by Applied EarthWorks, Inc. Our staff worked in support of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed riparian enhancement projects along three reservoirs on the Lower Snake River. SBS staff analyzed site conditions at Habitat Management Units, and designed a range of planting alternatives and restoration strategies at numerous sites along the project corridor. Final deliverables included GIS-generated planting polygon design maps, and associated tables of planting schedules, native species, quantities, and spacing. SBS ecologists provided our clients with a thorough report and project plan to address anticipated challenges and associated strategies, site specific descriptions of current conditions and revegetation approaches, as well as monitoring approaches to measure success.
Mudflat Habitat Enhancement Design and Management Plan, Kirkland Lagoon, Central Point, Oregon (2021)
Clients: Rogue Valley Sewer Services (RVSS)
SBS staff designed a management plan to create enhanced mudflat habitat for shorebirds at a waste water lagoon system in Jackson County, Oregon. The management plan was designed to augment shorebird habitat and use, during spring and fall migration along the pacific flyway. The enhancement design addressed seasonal water management, prescribed native plantings, and proposed numerous habitat features, including the development of large shallows and mudflats, a deep channel and pond, isolated islands for nesting sites, and prescribed plantings on the exterior of the lagoon, to improve experience for wildlife viewers. We provided our client with GIS-generated products to support site preparation, project implementation schedules, planting and maintenance, as well as long term success criteria.
Siskiyou Field Institute Land Management Plan, Plant Community Mapping (2021)
Client: Siskiyou Field Institute
SBS ecologists conducted field surveys and mapped the diverse plant communities of the approximate 1200 acre Siskiyou Field Institute (SFI) ownership in Southwest Oregon. SFI is located in a unique botanical landscape of serpentine meadows, Darlingtonia fens, wetlands and Jeffrey Pine forests. Our staff provided detailed ecological descriptions of ten distinct plant communities supported by maps, site photos and GIS shape files. The plant community mapping deliverables will support SFI to update their management plan.
Native Seed Collection Contracts (2008 – 2022)
Clients: BLM, US Forest Service, ODOT, Freshwater Trust, University of Oregon, Rogue Native Plant Partnership
SBS has completed numerous native seed collection contracts over the past 20 years. From 2009 to 2012, our staff worked with the Medford District BLM’s Seeds of Success program, to collect a minimum of 10,000 seeds each from 70 species of native trees, shrubs, grasses, and forbs in Southwest Oregon. This program targeted “banking seed” of nearly the entire flora of the United States.
Starting in 2009, SBS provided native, locally-sourced seed for an ODOT vernal pool mitigation site in Central Point, Oregon. To support this multi-year project, our staff provided more than 40 species, mapped collection locations, monitored seed development, and provided the mobilization and management of workers collecting seed at numerous locations within the Agate Desert area of the Rogue Valley.
Between 2008 and 2022, our staff has managed large seed collection contractions with Vale and Roseburg Districts of the BLM and the Olympic, Umatilla, Umpqua and Rogue-Siskiyou Forest Service. In each contract our SBS botanists located and monitored seed collection sites for multiple species, provided preliminary cleaning of seed, and delivered seed to regional seed extractor centers.
Trailblazer Solar Array Noxious Weed Plan (2022)
Clients: Standard Solar, Inc.
SBS staff consulted with state and county regulatory agencies, provided on-site noxious weed surveys and created a noxious weed plan to support Standard Solar’s application for a solar array installation in Jackson County, Oregon. The Plan details the methods and standards to control existing noxious weed populations before construction, and control and avoid the introduction or spread of noxious weeds during and after construction. Our ecologists introduced options to establish post-construction native vegetation, to reduce long-term maintenance and encourage native vegetation/pollinator ecology.
Horse Creek Community WUI Hazardous Fuels Reduction Phase I, CEQA Analysis (2021)
Client: Northern California Resource Center
This project is a collaborative strategic planning effort between the U.S. Forest Service, CALFIRE, the Horse Creek Area Fire Safe Council, private landowners, commercial timberland owners, and the Northern California Resource Center. SBS staff conducted pre-field reviews and habitat assessment for special status plant species, prepared an invasive species risk assessment, and a CEQA effects analysis for this fuels reduction projects on multiple properties in Siskiyou County, California.
August Fire Complex Botanical and Invasive Species Surveys (2021)
Clients: Northern California Resource Center, Shasta-Trinity National Forest
SBS botanists surveyed approximately 6,000 acres within the footprint of the 2020 August Fire Complex, in Trinity County, California. As one of California’s largest wildfires, the August Fire Complex included large areas of high intensity burn. The SBS crew surveyed extensive rare serpentine habitat with a unique flora, and located endemic species. SBS managers designed multiple survey protocols to complete large survey areas in a timely manner, including aerial photo interpretation, intuitive controlled meander and complete surveys. The SBS team located 49 sites of special status plants including a new population of the Trinity Mountain Monkeyflower (Erythranthe trinitiensis). This species was not described until 2013, and is a very narrow endemic of the Trinity Alps.
South Fork Sacramento River Public Safety and Forest Restoration Project (2021 – 2022)
Clients: Northern California Resource Center (NCRC), Shasta-Trinity National Forest
SBS is currently working in collaboration with NCRC, a non-profit community and natural resource consultant to assist the Shasta-Trinity National Forest conduct botanical surveys in multiple projects within the upper South Fork Sacramento watershed. Our botanists continue to conduct surveys in remote and front-country areas where endemic and special status plant populations occur in an area of complex geology and high public recreation use. SBS crews mapped large streamside stands of Port Orford Cedar, monitored the insectivorous roundleaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) at high elevation lakes, and documented new populations of Trinity buckwheat (Eriogonum alpinum) and Siskiyou willowherb (Epilobium siskiyouense) on serpentine ridgelines. SBS botanists will continue to support this project in the upcoming seasons.
Klamath Dam Removal and Ecological Restoration Project (2021-2022)
Client: Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC (RES)
SBS is currently working in collaboration with RES under the Klamath River Renewal Corporation to conduct vegetation plot sampling for the largest dam removal project in the world, along the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, California. The plots are designed to capture current vegetation parameters across a variety of habitats within the footprints of three of the Klamath River reservoirs. The data will be used to guide ecological restoration objectives to revegetate thousands of acres, and provide success criteria for post-restoration monitoring. Ultimately, the revegetation project supports the restoration of the Klamath River ecosystem, and supports the native tribes and local communities that depend on the historic salmon runs in the Klamath.
Ashland Canal Piping Project (2019)
Client: City of Ashland
SBS staff provided vegetation consulting services to the City of Ashland along a 2.5 mile stretch of an irrigation canal. The city’s project proposed to replace the open-channel irrigation canal with below-ground pipe to improve the water quality in Ashland Creek and to assist the City’s goal for overall water conservation. SBS provided ecological and arborist expertise to help the city planners develop an action plan, and presented findings at multiple public meetings.