Resource Planning

Development of resource management plans requires a broad understanding of the resources in question and the proposed management or use of those resources. Preparing such plans can be a highly controversial process, involving widely ranging viewpoints on such issues as fire management, prescribed burning, the use of herbicides, and use of public lands. This requires extensive public outreach and presentations to various groups.

LCA has a broad range of experience in preparing resource management plans and their accompanying EIRs. As a result, we are skilled in coordinating the large teams of technical experts often necessary to prepare these documents.

Our reputation for objectivity is particularly valuable for these types of projects. For example, when LCA prepared the original Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) for the Marin Municipal Water District in the early 1990s, there was massive opposition to the District's use of prescribed burning. We worked with the various stakeholders and the public to develop a plan that was hailed for its objectivity and thoroughness. The Association of California Water Agencies awarded this plan the Theodore Roosevelt Environmental Award for Excellence in December 1998.

In 2008 the District decided to update the plan to address the very controversial issue of using herbicides to control broom and other invasive species. A number of the same people who opposed the original VMP encouraged the District to select our firm to prepare the update.

In addition to natural and biological resources, LCA also has extensive experience in assessing quarries and aggregate production. Our staff has a solid understanding of the aggregate production process and of the specific issues that need to be addressed in EIRs for those projects.