Managing property or planning a project?
We’re here to help.
We specialize in identifying and assessing sensitive cultural and natural resources to seamlessly integrate them into your long-term plans. Whether your project involves endangered species, wetlands, or cultural resources, we’ll guide you through the regulatory process, ensuring your decisions keep your project on schedule and within budget.
Need permits? We’ll help you navigate procedures, follow restrictions, and avoid costly delays or compliance issues. Looking to enhance your team’s skills? Our custom training on topics like wetland identification and native plants is tailored to your needs—whether it’s a quick refresher or an in-depth seminar.
Proudly servicing the Chicago, Midwest, and Great Lakes regions including Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Cultural Resource Management
We can help you identify significant cultural resources like archaeological sites, historic structures, or culturally important natural resources, and help manage potential impacts to these places.
If your area does contain sensitive cultural resources we’ll help you understand any risks so you can feel confident moving forward. We can help you work with members of the public, landowners, officials, and regulatory agencies to keep your project on schedule.
We can help you comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and other cultural regulations.
When to Use Our Services:
Agency Coordination: Consult with local, state, and federal agencies under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Archaeological Surveys and Assessments: Phase I archaeological surveys, Phase II evaluation, and Phase III data recovery and mitigation.
Background Research and Desktop Review: State Historic Preservation Office records, archival research, historic maps and aerial photographs; LiDAR imagery; environmental records.
Historic Architecture Survey: Reconnaissance level surveys, intensive level surveys, evaluation and eligibility assessments.
Section 106 Documentation: 800.11 documentation, public notices, public outreach.
Preservation Planning: Site assessments, cultural resources management plans.
Ecological & Wildlife Surveys, Assessment, and Planning
Our ecologists specialize in identifying and managing sensitive plants and wildlife, including rare, threatened, and endangered species. We provide essential stewardship services such as floristic inventories, plant community mapping, and surveys for species of conservation concern. For those managing natural areas, we offer quantitative sampling to track ecological changes over time, as well as developing comprehensive natural area management plans.
We conduct habitat assessments, botanical inventories, and surveys across a wide range of species and habitats, including amphibians, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and terrestrial insects. Additionally, we provide wetland delineations, permitting, and mitigation monitoring to assess legal wetland boundaries and their functional quality. Our team also includes a certified FAA Qualified Airport Wildlife Biologist and federal permits for conducting endangered bat surveys, ensuring we can support diverse projects and regulatory needs.
When to Use Our Services:
Wildlife Surveys and Assessments: Endangered species surveys (Section 7 permitting), bat mist netting, biological assessments, acoustic monitoring, roost tree surveys, emergence counts, and wildlife hazard assessments for airports.
Plant and Habitat Management: Botanical inventories, floristic quality assessments, aquatic plant surveys, invasive species monitoring, tree surveys, and plant community mapping.
Wetland Services: Delineations, permitting (Section 404/401 Clean Water Act), mitigation monitoring, and functional quality assessments.
Ecological Planning and Restoration: Habitat assessments, natural area management plans, quantitative sampling for long-term site monitoring, and ecological restoration planning.
Compliance Inspections: SWPPP inspections, SESC inspections, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance
Workshops
Whether your staff needs specific technical training or you need to understand how environmental regulations might affect you, Orbis can help. Our botanists are recognized experts on the flora of the Great Lakes and Midwest States and can customize a workshop to help you learn to manage and conserve sensitive natural resources.
Customized Plant Workshops
We lead specialized workshops on difficult plant families and genera to provide you or your staff with the information they need to better understand how to identify the taxa within the subject group.
Plant Identification Training
We conduct plant identification training courses for regulators, consultants, land trusts, naturalists, park staff, and others to provide valuable insight on species identification. Training sessions can focus on a specific group of plants or can be broader to cover a wider range of the flora.