Martin & Nicholson Environmental Consultants, LLC is a Utah-based small business specializing in natural resources consulting including vegetation and wildlife surveys, wetland delineations, visual analysis, environmental compliance, and permitting for renewable energy, transportation, land development, and water projects throughout the Intermountain West.
SERVICES OFFERED
- Project management
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance including preparation of environmental assessments (EAs) and assistance with preparation of environmental impact statement (EISs).
- Assist federal agencies with interagency coordination and consultations under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) including desktop assessments, habitat reconnaissance and protocol level field surveys, and preparation of biological assessments (BAs)
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) compliance
- Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) compliance including eagle nest surveys and monitoring, eagle/avian use surveys, preparation of eagle conservation plans, eagle take permit applications and associated NEPA documentation, and eagle mortality monitoring.
- General wildlife and habitat assessments
- Weed management plans
- Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 compliance including aquatic resource inventories, delineation reports, wetland mitigation plans, Individual and General (nationwide) permit applications, assistance with potential CWA violations, and jurisdictional appeals.
- Watershed assessment and restoration
- River management plans
- Environmental land use planning for federal, state, and local governments and private developments
- Environmental due diligence for renewable energy and sustainable development
- Phase I environmental site assessments (ESAs) for conservation easements
- Public engagement
- Conflict resolution and mediation
Our Markets
Renewables
Since the company was found in 2018, M&N has been engaged in natural resource surveys, environmental due diligence, and permitting work for multiple renewable energy projects throughout the Intermountain West.
Transportation
Our staff have supported UDOT and their contractors in all four regions on high-profile projects such as Midvalley Highway, West Davis Corridor, Pioneer Crossing, Southern Parkway, Legacy Parkway, Mountain View Corridor, U.S. Route 6
Water
Water is a critical natural resource. M&N’s broad water portfolio includes drafting wetland management and mitigation plans, watershed restoration, assessment of environmental costs of declining Great Salt Lake levels, and NEPA documentation of infrastructure projects.
SELECT SERVICES OFFERED FOR WATER PROJECTS
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Environmental Planning
Wetlands and Waters of the U.S.
Vegetation Resources
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Wildlife Resources
Visual Services
Support Services
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Land
Our projects straddle the natural and built environment. M&N supports clients with environmental and habitat enhancement planning as well as provides regulatory expertise to integrate development with best management and conservation-minded practices.
SELECT SERVICES OFFERED FOR LAND USE PROJECTS
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Environmental Planning
Wetlands and Waters of the U.S.
Vegetation Resources
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Wildlife Resources
Visual Services
Support Services
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Our Team
(Click Images to Learn More)
Brian Nicholson
Brian Nicholson
M.S., Manager/Senior Project Manager
For over 20 years Mr. Nicholson has worked in stream, wetland, and riparian systems throughout the Intermountain West, Hawai’i, and Alaska. He has extensive experience providing environmental permitting and impact mitigation services to renewable energy, transportation, transmission, water resource, and land development clients as part of project planning and implementation.
His academic training in watershed science and sociology allows for interdisciplinary analysis of biophysical processes as well as the human dimensions of natural resource issues. He is skilled at bringing together stakeholders and coordinating strategies to address regulatory and ecosystem management issues. Mr. Nicholson’s expertise includes collaboration with municipal, state, and federal agencies; industry; and conservation organizations on aquatic habitat restoration, aquatic resource monitoring and assessment, and environmental planning projects.
In addition, he is a trainer and facilitator and has been highly effective working with laypeople, environmental professionals, and agency personnel. Mr. Nicholson developed and taught a regulatory short course and frequently conducts continuing legal education courses on Clean Water Act compliance and permitting. He has published in peer-reviewed journals on topics including watershed management, ecosystem services, and social science methodology. His international experience includes consultancies in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal.
R. Spencer Martin
R. Spencer Martin
M.E.M., Manager/Principal Ecologist
Mr. Martin’s academic and professional work has focused on community and landscape ecology, wildlife/habitat relationships, conservation biology, environmental planning, wetland ecology, and environmental regulatory compliance related to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and a variety of state and local permit processes.
Mr. Martin has over 27 years of experience in natural resources research and consulting, including extensive fieldwork (vegetation, fisheries, wildlife, and/or wetland surveys) in various portions of the U.S including the Intermountain West, Northeast, Southeast, Alaska, and California. Mr. Martin has completed vegetation and wildlife surveys, wildlife/biodiversity technical reports, biological evaluations, biological assessments, management indicator species reports, and NEPA, ESA, CWA, and MBTA documentation for energy, transportation, and utility line projects in Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming; airport projects in Alaska; proposed ski area expansions in Utah, Colorado, and Vermont; and environmental planning projects in Utah and Idaho. Mr. Martin has conducted numerous big game surveys, identified mule deer and elk seasonal movement corridors, developed habitat mitigation plans, and written guidelines for minimizing impacts to wildlife associated with development at the wildland-urban interface.
Mr. Martin has been permitted through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct breeding bird surveys for a variety of federally listed species including the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and threatened Mexican spotted owl. Additional sensitive bird species for which Mr. Martin has conducted surveys include greater sage-grouse, western yellow-billed cuckoo, Yuma clapper rail, northern goshawk, flammulated owl, burrowing owl, boreal owl, three-toed woodpecker, and loggerhead shrike. He has also led and participated in numerous breeding bird surveys as well as aerial (helicopter) raptor nest and sage-grouse lek surveys. Mr. Martin is certified for conducting jurisdictional wetland delineations through the Wetland Training Institute and is experienced in large-scale wetlands planning, mitigation, and permitting.
Susan A. Martin
Susan A. Martin
M.S., Manager/Ecologist
Ms. Martin is an ecologist with formal training in ecology and plant systematics and extensive field experience with the flora of the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau, and Southeast Alaska. She has extensive experience with conducting plant community surveys, monitoring, and species identification. Her plant species identification expertise includes both rare species and noxious weeds. She has written weed management and habitat restoration plans for different types of clients working in both large and small project areas. She also has extensive experience with data collection, processing, and statistical analysis.
Her National Environmental Policy Act experience includes managing environmental assessments (EAs) and writing vegetation and special status species sections for environmental impact statements (EISs). Her ESA training includes writing biological assessments for site specific projects as well as RMPs. Ms. Martin has completed numerous phase I environmental site assessments for conservation easements.
Ms. Martin is certified through the Wetland Training Institute to conduct jurisdictional wetland delineations and has helped many clients meet requirements under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. She is also permitted through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct breeding bird surveys for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and threatened Mexican spotted owl.
Ranae Benallie
Ranae Benallie
B.S., Manager/Field Biologist
Ranasia Benallie, Ranae for short, is a field biologist for Martin & Nicholson Environmental Consultants, LLC. She has a broad background and experience in the field and has worked in a multitude of states in the western U.S. During her undergraduate career she assisted fishery biologists in the continued recovery and conservation efforts for the Apache trout in Arizona. In her professional career, Ranasia has conducted surveys for a variety of wildlife, including the American goshawk, great grey owl, eagle/raptor surveys, burrowing owl, kit foxes, white-tailed prairie dogs, pygmy rabbit and a variety of fish and amphibian species. She also has experience in habitat assessments, botanical identification, rare plant and noxious weeds surveys. Ranasia’s extensive understanding of the flora, fauna and habitats of the Intermountain West allows her the versatility to contribute to collaborative interdisciplinary studies. Ranasia graduated from Colorado State University in 2019 with a degree in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology.
Merlyn Paulson
Merlyn Paulson
M.S., Manager/Senior Project Manager
Merlyn Paulson is a land architect with 49 years of experience in aesthetics inventories, impacts, and simulation studies. He has prepared assessments and visual simulations for the US Army Corps of Engineers, USDA Forest Service, US Dept. of Energy, USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM), USDI Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, USDI National Park Service, and multiple state, city, and county agencies and private organizations. Merlyn’s capabilities and knowledge of all aspects of aesthetics studies include: agency interactions; field analyses; photography; affected environment narrative; 3D modeling; photographic simulations; impacts narrative; mitigation effectiveness; cumulative impacts narrative; figure generation; and report preparation.
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