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Kirkland SMP Featured for Innovative Tool
The Green Shorelines blog featured an innovative visual tool for determining shoreline stabilization options that was included in the City of Kirkland's Shoreline Master Program Update, developed by The Watershed Company. In addition to the Kirkland SMP Update, planners at The Watershed Company have assisted or are assisting over 25 jurisdictions with SMP updates.
Watershed Opens Wenatchee Office
The Watershed Company’s new Wenatchee office is now conducting permitting, restoration, mitigation, planning, landscaping, and critical areas work throughout eastern Washington. While we have worked in eastern and north central Washington extensively throughout our 30-year history, our newly established branch makes it more convenient and cost-effective for our clients. Read more about the services we offer and see project examples from North Central Washington on our Wenatchee office page.
Watershed Hires Water Resources Manager and Landscape Designer
The Watershed Company recently welcomed two new staff members, expanding our capacity in engineering and landscape architecture: Sky Miller, PE, as Water Resources Manager, and Marina French as Landscape Designer.
Sky Miller, P.E., Water Resources Manager
Known for his leadership in developing and implementing strategic ecologically sustainable infrastructure, floodplain and habitat restoration plans and designs, Sky is highly skilled at managing multidisciplinary teams of scientists, engineers and planners. He is an effective public speaker, administrator and engineer and brings a collaborative style to solve complex environmental problems in a fast-paced, public, political, legal and controversial environment. Sky joined The Watershed Company in 2011 from Wildlands, Inc., a regional mitigation and conservation banking firm, where he was the Pacific Northwest regional manager. He is also the former Surface Water division manager at Skagit County. Recent projects with construction completed include the 300-acre Nookachamps Wetland Bank on the Skagit River, and Hylebos Creek Estuary Restoration in Tacoma, Washington.
Marina French, Landscape Designer
Marina French (formerly Alvarez) combines her training and experience in ecology and landscape design to plan and create living spaces that integrate human and natural elements. She has developed management and recreational plans for regional, state and national parks areas and participated in the site design of projects throughout the West and internationally. Her assessments optimize the human experience while achieving goals for environmental and cultural preservation. Marina recently joined The Watershed Company from Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects. She is enjoying mitigation design and putting on her boots to monitor projects after installation. In addition to a steady stream of mitigation projects and private residential design projects, Marina is currently working on a site plan for the 42nd Street End Park for the City of Yarrow Point, and the exciting mixed-use Ballard Greenfire Campus plan, which includes green roofs, p-patches, and a stormwater biofiltration garden.
Watershed Wildlife Biologist Certified by The Wildlife Society
The Watershed Company's Senior Wildlife Biologist Suzanne Tomassi has recently been certified by The Wildlife Society as a "Certified Wildlife Biologist", their highest level of certification. The certification represents her "educational background and demonstrated expertise in the art and science of applying the principles of ecology to the conservation and management of wildlife and its habitats". Congratulations, Suzanne!
Jim Creek Restoration Concept Designs Completed for Sound Salmon Solutions
Fisheries biologists at The Watershed Company recently assisted Sound Salmon Solutions with restoration designs along 1 mile of Jim Creek near Arlington. Reach analysis prior to conceptual design included extensive field assessment and review of stream conditions. Design concepts were completed for twelve in-stream and streambank projects, and hydraulic modeling was used to determine the relative hydraulic effects of the proposed project. Read more about the project on the Sound Salmon Solutions website.
Watershed Staff to Present at SMP Workshop
Amy Summe, Environmental Planner at The Watershed Company, will be presenting at a Law Seminars International workshop on Shoreline Master Program Updates on December 7 in Seattle. She will be part of a discussion on requirements and experiences with the analysis report, no net loss, cumulative impacts analysis, and restoration plan elements.
Amy has been involved with more than 25 Shoreline Master Program updates, and is currently leading updates for Chelan County and the Cities of North Bend and Carnation, as well as four Lake Washington communities. As part of the SMP update process, Amy and Watershed staff participate in public involvement proceedings and prepare reports, GIS maps, restoration plans, and updated SMP documents.
Seminar Details
What: A Comprehensive One-Day Seminar on Shoreline
Master Program Updates: Current developments and practical guidance for
compliance
Where: Sheraton Seattle Hotel, in
Seattle, WA
When: December 7, 8:00AM - 6:00PM; Amy's
segment begins at 10:15AM
For more details, please visit the Law
Seminars International website.
Watershed to Assist with Beaver Pond Natural Area Restoration Plan
The Watershed Company is pleased to announce being selected by Seattle Parks to complete Phase One of the Beaver Pond Natural Area restoration plan. We will be helping Seattle Parks and local residents envision upgrades to the Thornton Creek stream corridor just downstream of Thornton Place, across from Northgate Mall. Upgrades will include stream realignment and floodplain enhancements, invasive removal and native planting, wayfinding elements, trail improvements, entrance improvements and possibly other amenities as well.
Watershed Staff Volunteers with Papua New Guinea Bird Study
Senior Wildlife Biologist Suzanne Tomassi spends much of her free time working as an ornithologist with the non-profit organization Puget Sound Bird Observatory, of which she is a founding member and active board member, and traveling to far-away places to study birds. This year she traveled to Papua New Guinea for 6 weeks. She shares a little about her trip below:
This spring I had the great privilege of assisting Dr. Bruce Beehler, Vice President of the Indonesia-Pacific Islands research program of Conservation International, on a climate change study in Papua New Guinea's YUS Conservation Area. The study is looking at a number of taxa, including plants, along an elevational transect on the island. The YUS Conservation Area is the first of its kind, implemented after years of hard work by the Woodland Park Zoo's Tree Conservation Program and Dr. Lisa Dabek. Dr. Beehler's work focuses on birds, and I mist-netted from about 2,400m, to 3,010m, cataloging species occurrences.
The species diversity is not all that high at that elevation. We caught more than 100 individuals on some days, and a total of 910 birds, comprising 42 species. Our captures included many endemics and near-endemics, isolated by the high mountain peaks of the Finisterre range on the Huon Peninsula. Spangled honeyeater, Huon bowerbird, lesser melampitta and Huon Melidectes all ended up in our nets, and we encountered the emperor bird of paradise, Wahnes' bird of paradise, Meyer's goshawk, and many others on our long hikes between camps. Each species was a life-lister for me. Altogether, we recorded 12 species outside of their previously reported range.
The transect runs from sea level to more than 3,000m, and nowhere was that elevation change more evident than along the trails we traversed! Despite having local porters carry our supplies, the walking was challenging, to say the least. There are no roads, and trails are steep, slippery, and subject to landslides, and often cross raging rivers in deep ravines. Our travels were at the whim of the many local clans; fortunately, our hosts were gracious as well as fascinating.
As excruciating as it would become to eat the tubers manioc and 'kao kao' day after day, we were never wanting for new experiences. Whether extracting a new and wholly unfamiliar bird from a net, witnessing a "Sing-Sing" celebration in honor of World Environment Day, awakening to earthquakes five times in one week, or waiting two days with no communication when the bush plane failed to pick me up, every moment was incomparable to anything I'd ever participated in before. I'm grateful that the people of Papua New Guinea are working together to protect the YUS Conservation Area, and I look forward to another trip up the transect to further document the ranges of the Huon's unique avifauna.
American Fisheries Society Conference Next Week!
Come see us at the American Fisheries Society conference next week in Seattle! We will be at booth 96 - drop by and enter our daily drawing to win a Gurgle Pot.
We have also organized a symposium, Effective Fish Habitat Conservation: Assessment, Protection, and Rehabilitation (Part 1, Part 2). Sarah Sandstrom is facilitating the symposium on Tuesday, and three Watershed Company staff are presenting: Dan Nickel will discuss SMP policies to improve shoreline conditions; Mark Garff will speak about convincing property owners to restore shorelines; Greg Johnston is teaming with Kerry Ritland of the City of Issaquah to discuss restoration planning and implementation in the City.
Details
Symposium: Effective Fish Habitat Conservation: Assessment,
Protection, and Rehabilitation
Part
1: Tuesday, 8AM-3PM, Convention Center Room 607
Part
2: Wednesday, 1:15PM-5:15PM, Convention Center Room 603
Dan Nickel
Shoreline
Master Program Updates: Using Policy to Improve Shoreline Conditions in
Washington State
Tuesday, 10:30AM, Convention Center Room 607
Mark Garff
Bring
Back the Beach: Removing Barriers While Improving Habitat
Tuesday,
10:45AM, Convention Center Room 607
Greg Johnston and Kerry Ritland (City of Issaquah)
Setting
a Path for Urban Restoration Projects—Assessment, Prioritization,
Planning, and Implementation at the City of Issaquah, WA
Wednesday,
4:25PM, Convention Center Room 603
In-Water Work
A quick heads-up to our friends in construction - most fish windows for in-water construction end August 31! The Watershed Company can assist with fish removal and exclusion on your projects.
Seeking Water Resources Engineer
We are looking for a Water Resources Engineer. Please see our careers page for qualifications, benefits, and application instructions.
Camella George of Yakama Tribe wins Watershed scholarship
Camella George of Toppenish, WA, has received The Watershed Company’s scholarship to the University of Washington Wetland Certification Program. Ms. George is a member of the Yakama Tribe and a vegetation biologist with the Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources. The Watershed scholarship is designated for underrepresented populations in the field of natural resources. “Ms. George has shown tremendous persistence and determination in improving her knowledge and skills to be a better steward of her Tribe’s natural resources,” said Watershed Company president Bill Way. He added that at a time of shrinking support for education, it is more important than ever for business to step up and provide funding to worthy students.
Staff Congratulations!
Two new Principals
Hugh Mortensen (left) and Dan Nickel (right) have been promoted to principal at The Watershed Company. Nickel, an environmental engineer, manages the firm’s planning and fisheries groups. Mortensen, who has been a Professional Wetland Scientist for the past decade, manages our wetland department.
Staff earn AICP and LEED Green Associate Certifications
Mark Daniel, Watershed Company associate planner, has passed the exam to
be an AICP! Daniel, who
joined the firm in 2010, has a Masters of Urban Planning from the
University of Washington and a Bachelor of Arts in
Economics/Environmental Studies from Western Washington University. He
has worked on a broad array of long-range and current planning projects
and made significant contributions to Shoreline Master Program updates,
urban design guidelines, master plans, and environmental impact
statements. He also specializes in acquiring permits for complicated
aquatic projects.
Courtney Landoll, Watershed Company landscape architect, has passed the
test to be a LEED Green Associate! This certifies her knowledge of green
building principles and practices and skill in supporting green design,
construction, and operations. Landoll holds a Bachelor of Landscape
Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and became a licensed
landscape architect in 2009. She brings experience from small-scale
landscape design to large scale site planning with extensive knowledge
of ecological restoration.
Looking for a Landscape Architect or Designer
We're looking for a Landscape Architect or Designer to add to our LA department! Full information is posted on the careers page.
Issaquah I-90 Underpass Opening
Today, the City of Issaquah officially dedicated the opening of 224th Street (external link), which improves north-south connectivity in Issaquah by providing another route across Interstate 90. With guidance from The Watershed Company, wetland impacts were mitigated by expanding and improving existing riparian wetlands adjacent to the North Fork of Issaquah Creek. Our biologists and landscape architects designed the wetland mitigation plan and are providing construction monitoring services.
Recent Projects Added to Website
We've added a few new projects to our website, check out our recent work!
The Watershed Company is completing one of the first in-lieu fee governing instruments in Washington State, for lower Lake Chelan. In-lieu fee mitigation (or ILF) is a relatively new option for meeting compensatory mitigation requirements. A permit applicant may make a single payment into an ILF program, and that money will be pooled and used for projects designed to improve critical areas function by restoring watershed processes. The applicant is not responsible for the mitigation after the fee is paid.
Our wetlands biologists and landscape architects teamed up to develop a Meridian Park feasibility study that includes innovative street side rain gardens, which are becoming more popular in Seattle.
Watershed Company landscape architects designed a landscape for a modern Tate Creek home that complements the home's bluestone stonework as well as its natural setting.
Welcome to the new Watershed website and blog!
We are happy to give you our redesigned website! We've reorganized, dividing our experience into the categories Wetlands, Streams, Shorelines, Fish & Wildlife, Landscape Architecture, and Planning & Permits. On each project page, you'll also find links to similar projects.
As part of our new website, we're launching a blog to share company news, project updates, and our best photos. Follow us through our RSS feed, or just check back from time to time.
We've also added a ton of new project experience in all categories! Take a peek through and see what we've been working on lately.
Wetlands
- Washington State Parks Wetland Restoration Opportunities
- Snohomish County Airport Wetland Services
- Soos Creek Trail
- Squak Mountain Trail
- Twin Harbors State Park Wetland Assessment
Streams
- Tahuya River Assessment
- Squak Valley Park Stream Design and Park Master Planning
- Padden Creek Realignment
- Issaquah Creek Private Residence Bank Stabilization
- Sunnyslope Natural Area
- Klickitat Meadows Enhancement
Shorelines
- Shoreline and Stream Restoration at Lake Sammamish Residence
- Clover Island Master Plan
- Sunset Beach Restoration at Lake Sammamish State Park
Fish & Wildlife
Landscape Architecture
Our L.A. department provides such a range of services - from landscape architecture to interpretive design to site planning - that I let them add more projects than everyone else. Lucky ducks!
Landscape Architecture - Residential & Commercial
- Wildlife-Friendly Kirkland Office Building Landscape
- Premera Blue Cross Parking Landscape
- Redmond Ridge East Road Improvements
- Federal Way Townhomes
- Hunt's Point Waterfront Outdoor Oasis
- Mercer Island Hillside Garden Remodel
- Seattle Streetscape Upgrade
- Seattle Courtyard Design
- Springbrook PUD
Site Planning
- Squak Valley Park
- Fairhaven Highlands Site Planning
- Chief Joseph Hatchery Office and Residences
- Clyde Beach Park
- Harryman's Farm Park
Interpretive Design
- Grasslawn Park LID Signs
- Talus Interpretive Signs
- Redmond Water Conservation Garden
- Carillon Woods Park
