Services

Rates

NRCS EQIP plans are charged at the cost-share reimbursement rates for your plan year. Contact us to request a proposal for other projects. Rates depend on project size, travel, and type of project.

Service Area

We serve Northern Lower Michigan, however larger projects may be considered outside of this region.

Technology

We integrate remote sensing technologies, GIS, and advanced data collection methods in addition to traditional field-based survey.

Reporting

Reports and plans are tailored to the clients needs including custom maps, high-quality photo documentation, statistical analysis, and delivery of geospatial data.

Ecological Assessments and Inventories

Conducting a Floristic Quality Assessment at a preserve with regional conservancy staff support.

Ecological assessments and biological inventories are instrumental to making land use decisions for both private and public lands, such as planning and managing recreational use, locating high-priority conservation areas, and managing rare or target species populations.

We also offer sub-contractor services to cover the botanical needs of larger projects. Past performance includes endangered species population monitoring for USFWS, botanical assessments as part of energy infrastructure re-licensing projects, and wetland quality monitoring and delineations for EGLE.

Floristic Quality Assessments inventory the vascular plant species in a discrete area to generate a floristic quality index. This can be used to compare conservation values between areas, or monitor change in quality over time.

Rapid Ecological Assessments combine different disciplines to create a snap-shot of a land and its inhabitants, including plants, mammals, birds, insects, and other taxonomic groups of interest.

Natural Resource Management Plans

Planting native seedlings with the Conservation District, school staff, students, and volunteers after a red pine timber thin at the Frankfort Public School forest.

We specialize in habitat and conservation-oriented Management Plans that prioritize healthy and resilient natural communities. This commonly includes practices to restore degraded land into functioning ecosystems by identifying and treat invasive species, creating or enhancing habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species, creating customized seed mixes and planting plans for restoration, and management of declining forest stands. We do not write commercial forestry plans.

Registered forester with the State of Michigan certified to write Forest Stewardship Plans, which can be used for conservation easement forest management, the Qualified Forest Program, registration with American Tree Farm System, carbon programs, and other programs.

Technical Service Provider for the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) certified to write Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) Forest Management Plans and Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Plans. Certified practices include brush management, herbaceous weed treatment, conservation cover, critical area planting, restoration of declining communities, forest stand improvement, tree and shrub establishment, wildlife habitat management, and more.

You can view a list of all NRCS certifications here.

Invasive Species Detection and Mapping

We offer landowners, organizations, and neighborhood and lake associations technical assistance in identification, mapping, and management planning for invasive plant species impacting their community and natural resources. Invasive species surveys can be incorporated into more general assessments or as a stand-alone survey and assessment.

Terrestrial invasive species surveys target upland and wetland communities and use a combination of field surveys with aerial imagery interpretation to identify and map invasive species populations.

Aquatic invasive species surveys target plants growing in waterbodies, typically lakes, using directed point-intercept sampling with specialized equipment. Sampling is direct by ancillary information such as aerial imagery and bathymetry. These surveys are most often used by Lake Associations to monitor for Euasian water milfoil

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Native whorled milfoil (left) and hybrid invasive European x Northern milfoil growing together in a submergent marsh.

Restoration, Native Landscapes and Seed Collection

Native plant restoration, including native landscaping, is vital to the conservation of not only the plants, but also the insects, birds, herpetofauna, and mammals that rely on the vegetation, as well as ecosystem function and services provided to people.

We can assist on projects between a few square feet to hundreds of acres, and can provide you with a solid plan to restore your lawn, garden, forest, or old field with native vegetation communities.

We work with the Seeds of Success program via the Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the North American Orchid Conservation Center at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, to collect native seed for conservation and restoration initiatives and the Millennium Seed Bank Project. We utilize their methodology when collecting seed for private or regional projects.

Collecting seed for North American Orchid Conservation Center.

GIS and Mapping Services

We provide GIS services to digitally map natural communities, wetlands, plant populations, or other natural features. Mapping services are often incorporated into ecological surveys and assessments, invasive species surveys, management plans, and other projects. Most floristic quality assessments and ecological assessments include georeferenced maps of natural communities with associated species. Invasive species detection includes maps showing species distribution and abundance so that landowners can better plan management strategies.

Conservation Easement Baseline Data Reports

Monitoring a protected southern hardwood swamp.

We offer support services for Land Trust organizations setting up conservation easements. Conservation easements require the creation of a baseline data report to accompany the easement language that is attached to the parcel's deed; the baseline data report is a detailed account of the property in it's current condition, including maps, georeferenced photographs, soil reports, buildings and existing infrastructure, among other data. This report is then referenced in monitoring and easement enforcement.

Classes and Workshops

Plant identification classes and workshops

Examining native plants with a group from the local college.

Does your organization need instruction in plant or natural community identification? We can help you learn your sedges, common wetland plants, or high-quality forest indicator species. Contact us to discuss your needs. A limited number of pro-bono classes are offered to non-profit native plant conservation organizations.

Plant identification classes and workshops are occasionally offered to the public or member groups and organized through the Michigan Botanical Society, Northwestern Michigan College Extended Education Program, and local conservation organizations. See our Blog page for upcoming offerings.

Services

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