| Threatened & Endangered Species |
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WEST, Inc. has extensive experience working with threatened and endangered (T&E) species and compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). WEST has conducted numerous Biological Assessments for a variety of projects such as highway construction, wind power plants, gravel mines, and reservoirs. WEST personnel have working knowledge with numerous listed species and are familiar with techniques necessary to study rare and uncommon wildlife and plants. WEST personnel have been trained by the USFWS in Section 7 consultation, Habitat Conservation Planning, and survey methods for black-footed ferrets, Wyoming toads, Preble's meadow jumping mouse, Mexican spotted owls, Ute ladies' tresses orchid, and Colorado butterfly plant.
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Representative ESA projects:
- Biological Assessments to evaluate impacts to T&E species for numerous highway construction projects in Wyoming and Montana.
- Biological Assessment to evaluate impacts to the proposed mountain plover associated with the Foote Creek Rim wind plant in Wyoming.
- Biological Assessments and HCPs to evaluate impacts to bald eagle from wind plants in central Washington.
- Biological Assessments to evaluate impacts to the endangered Indiana and Virginia big-eared bats associated with wind power development in the state of West Virginia.
- Greybull Valley Dam and Reservoir Project Biological Assessment; Bureau of Land Management and Army Corps of Engineers.
- Executive Director for the effort to develop a recovery implementation program for four threatened & endangered species that use the Platte River in Nebraska: the whooping crane, piping plover, least interior tern, pallid sturgeon, States of Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and the Department of the Interior.
- City of Buffalo, Wyoming hydropower plant site Biological Assessment; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and States West Water Resources Corporation.
- Wind River Indian Reservation dam modification projects Biological Assessment, Natural Resource Consulting Engineers.
- Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Abandoned Mine Land Program biological assessments. Assessments were written for more than 40 abandoned mine sites.
- Montana Department of Transportation highway reconstruction projects Biological Assessments for bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout.
T&E Species Studies, Surveys and Clearances:
- Black-footed ferret searches for numerous projects for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, Farmer's Home Administration, Union Pacific Resources, Department of Energy, and private oil development interests.
- Black-footed Ferret release, Shirley Basin, Wyoming analysis of data; Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
- Wyoming Toad Searches 1994-1995, Laramie Basin, Albany County; Wyoming Toad Task Force, Wyoming Department of Agriculture, and Wyoming Department of Transportation.
- Evaluation of subspecies differences of the California Gnatcatcher using morphological data; Chevron Land and Development Company.
- Preble's meadow jumping mouse surveys, Wyoming Department of Transportation, City of Cheyenne, U.S. Air Force, City of Torrington, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Surveys for Ute ladies' tresses orchid, Colorado Butterfly plant, Blowout Penstemon, Desert Yellowhead; Wyoming Department of Transportation, BLM, BP Amoco.
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WEST personnel have experience working with the following federal or state-listed species and have evaluated project impacts to many others in NEPA and ESA documents.
Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis), endangered - Indiana, West Virginia
Grey Bat (Myotis griscens), endangered - Indiana
Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), threatened - Wyoming
Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes), endangered - Wyoming, South Dakota
Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) - Wyoming, Colorado
Swift Fox (Vulpes velos), State endangered - Nebraska
Washington Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus washingtoni), State threatened - Oregon
Virginia Big Eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus), endangered - West Virginia
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), threatened - Wyoming, Washington, Oregon
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), endangered - Georgia
Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida), endangered - Arizona
Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus), proposed - Wyoming
Whooping Crane (Grus americana), endangered - Nebraska
California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica), - California
Interior Least Tern (Sterna antillarum athalassos), endangered - Nebraska
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), threatened - Nebraska
Copperbelly Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta), threatened - Indiana
Kirtland's Snake (Clonophis kirtlandii), threatened - Indiana
Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), endangered - Florida
Allen's Cay Rock Iguana (Cyclura cychlura inornata), endangered - Exuma Cays, Bahamas
Riley's Rock Iguana (Cyclura rileyi), endangered - Exuma Cays, Bahamas
Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri), endangered - Wyoming
Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus), threatened - Montana
Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewsi), proposed - Montana
Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus), endangered - Nebraska
Ute Ladies' Tresses Orchid (Spiranthes diluvialis), threatened - Wyoming, Washington, Montana
Colorado Butterfly Plant (Gaura neomexicana coloradensis), threatened - Wyoming, Colorado
Blowout Penstemon (penstemon haydenii), endangered - Wyoming
Desert Yellowhead (Yermo xanthocephalus), threatened - Wyoming
Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara), threatened - Nebraska
American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus), endangered - Nebraska, South Dakota
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