Endangered Species Act

WEST 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, Inc. personnel have been trained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 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.

Representative ESA Projects:

- Biological Assessments to evaluate impacts to T&E species for numerous highway construction projects in Wyoming and Montana.

- Biological Assessments to evaluate impacts to the proposed mountain plover associated with the Foote Creek Rim Wind Plant in Wyoming.

- Biological Assessments 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 and endangered species that use the Platte River in Nebraska; the whooping crane, piping plover, least interior tern, and 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; these assessments were written for over forty abandoned mine sites.

- Montana Department of Transportation highway reconstruction projects Biological Assessments for bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout.

- Habitat Conservation Plan for whooping cranes and lesser prairie chicken. American Wind Energy Association.

Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis), endangered - Indiana, West Virginia

Grey Bat (Myotis griscens), endangered - Indiana

Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), threatened - Wyoming

Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus), threatened - Alaska

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

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.


	415 W. 17th St, Suite 200, Cheyenne, WY 82001 - Phone: (307) 634-1756	© Copyright 2010 - WEST Inc. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED