Platte River ESA Compliance Program EA/BA, CO/NE/WY

CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation Missouri Basin Region

Platte River

Platte River

FAST FACTS:

  • Prepared numerous management plans to guide the process, including: Project Management Plan, Public Involvement Plan, Document Review Plan, and Administrative Record Plan

  • Facilitated cooperating agency involvement among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), US Environmental Protection Agency, US Forest Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service

  • The EA serves as the Biological Assessment (BA) for Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation with the USFWS

Platte River

Platte River

The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program's long-term goal is to improve and maintain the associated habitats of whooping cranes, interior least terns, piping plovers, and pallid sturgeons. The Program is designed to provide ESA compliance for water-related activities throughout the Platte River basin upstream of the Loup River, and land acquisition and management for habitat improvement in the central Platte River region (Lexington to Chapman, Nebraska).

EMPSi developed an extensive and targeted public involvement program designed to accommodate the individual needs of interested local, state, and federal agencies; special interest and environmental and conservation groups; local residents; and the general public. We then prepared an EA to maintain and improve the associated habitats of USFWS threatened and endangered species impacted by changes in Platte River instream flows and river habitat. EMPSi worked directly with the USFWS to ensure the EA was structured to include all pertinent information to prepare a comprehensive document meeting all needs for the BA, and ultimately the USFWS’s Biological Opinion.

EMPSi’s performance on the Platte River NEPA/ESA effort has been thorough, strategic, and sound…All staff provided by EMPSi for the project have been professional and knowledgeable…The Platte project/program had a lot of history and data associated with it. EMPSi came up to speed quickly on the technical aspects and in understanding the politics associated with the program

— Jennifer Beardsley, former Environmental Compliance Coordinator, Bureau of Reclamation, Great Plains (now Missouri Basin) Region