Wetland and Upland Habitat Restoration Design
You will get your hands dirty (optional) during the plant inspection session.Learn what to look for in-container and bare-root nursery material from an experienced nursery professional, Susan Buis. You will examine plants to see what to look for during “plant inspections,” what to avoid, and what looks funny but is okay. She answers the question “what is a sound basis for rejecting plants before installation?”
This session always gets great reviews!
Research findings show that mitigation projects continue to not perform as expected. So what can you and your design team do to assure greater success for restoration projects for upland and aquatic habitats? Some of the common mistakes found in those under-performing projects include poor designs that overlook existing and future site conditions, inappropriate goals and objectives for the chosen site, plans that don’t translate into a constructable project, and poor construction and maintenance practices.
If you think that the contractor actually reads your mitigation plan, then this class is for you. This two-day course for habitat restoration professionals will provide you with assessment and design tools that will improve your ability to translate design concepts into buildable projects that have a greater likelihood of success. The class will help those who already have a general understanding of habitat ecology in the Pacific Northwest use their knowledge while working in an interdisciplinary design team to develop wetland and/or upland restoration plans with a greater assurance of long-term success.
To learn how to bring this course to your organization, please contact Engineering Professional Programs at 206-543-5539 or toll-free at 1-866-791-1275.
A quick overview of the research on the reasons for mitigation failures and successes will introduce an in-depth, step-by-step design process that starts by identifying the site attributes that will dictate what to keep and what future conditions to expect. You will learn to identify what is appropriate to create, how you can transform ideas into plans and specs, and assure that you include the right installation and maintenance considerations. You will also discover what you need to communicate to a contractor to make sure your project is built right after you design it right.
In this course you will:
- Learn design principles that assure higher success rates for habitat restoration projects
- Understand key elements of design criteria for habitat restoration projects
- Develop designs that incorporate pre-existing elements and installation and maintenance considerations
- Learn basics of plant material inspection and monitoring protocols
- Understand how to translate restoration concepts into plan details and contract specification documents that assure greater installation success
- Acres International Limited
- Bureau Environmental Services
- Bush, Roed & Hitchings, Inc.
- City of Everett
- City of Kirkland
- City of Olympia
- City of Seattle
- City of Seattle, DPD
- City of Tacoma
- Clark Public Utilities
- Clean Water Services
- C-TRAN
- David Evans & Associates, Inc.
- Entranco, Inc.
- Gray & Osborne, Inc.
- Grays Harbor County Public Works
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game-Coeur d'Alene<
- J. J. Henri Co., Inc.
- Jefferson County Public Works
- King County DOT
- King County DOT Roads Services
- King County Wastewater Treatment
- King County Water & Land Resources
- Lummi Nation
- Mason County Public Works
- Maxwelton Salmon Adventure
- NOAA's Office of Response & Restorartion
- Oregon Dept. of State Lands
- PBS Engineering and Environmental
- Pierce County Public Works
- Pierce County Water Programs
- Portland Parks-Horticultural Services
- RoseWater Engineering, Inc.
- Seattle Public Utilities
- Shaw Environmental, Inc.
- Skagit County Public Works
- Snohomish County - DPW - SWM
- Squaxin Island Tribe
- Stilly-Snohomish Task Force
- Tetra Tech FW, Inc.
- The Jay Group, Inc.
- URS
- Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
- Washington State DOT
- Wetland Resources, Inc.
- Worthy & Associates
Course Topics
- Overview of common causes of success/failure in "mitigation" designs
- Tools for assessing existing site conditions to inform the design process
- Hydrology: sources, periodicity, duration, quality
- Soils: depth, fertility, compaction, salvage opportunity
- Landscape considerations: aspect, seed sources, shade, connectivity, complexity
- The functions of upland and wetland habitats
- How to develop realistic goals and objectives correlated to construction time frames
- How to develop measurable performance standards that reflect the project goals and objectives
- How to use installation tools to assure viable plant material, proper installation methods and construction techniques
- Maintenance protocols for expected conditions
- How to plan realistic contingency actions for unexpected conditions
- Monitoring and reporting protocols correlated to performance standards
- Plan sheets and contract specification document contents
Who Should Attend
Landscape architects, wetland ecologists, biologists, stream ecologists and engineers will find this course of value.
Faculty
Dyanne Sheldon is an accomplished field naturalist with 21 years of professional field experience in the habitats of the Pacific Northwest, plus five years professional field experience in the Upper Midwest. She has assessed habitat impacts to both terrestrial and aquatic systems, and she has designed and overseen the installation of her firm's restoration projects for over a decade.
Susan Buis is the horticulturist for the WA State Dept. of Transportation, where she serves as the agency's in-house consultant for plant establishment. Prior to that, she co-managed Sound Native Plants, Inc. and Sound Ecological Services, sister companies that provide a full spectrum of restoration services including design, installation, native plant propagation, maintenance, and monitoring. Before founding her companies in 1992, she worked for Yosemite and Olympic National Park, where she developed and managed restoration projects and native plant propagation protocols. Ms. Buis has been teaching workshops in restoration design and installation to professional groups and agencies since 1996 and has published articles on creating restoration specifications in Hortus West and in Native Plant Journal.
What is Included
Fee includes a CD ROM with extensive reference materials for you to use a valuable on-the-job resource. Course notes, refreshment breaks, lunch both days is also provided.
Continuing Education Units
Course participants will earn 1.4 CEUs upon successful completion of this course. The CEU is a nationally recognized measure of participation in a noncredit continuing education program that meets established criteria for increasing knowledge and competency.
Additional Information
The specific location of this course, parking information and a map will be provided with your registration confirmation letter.