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Avoiding and Resolving Land Use Conflicts for Comprehensive Ecological Restoration
Michael Sachs
RES (Resource Environmental Solutions)
Pittsburgh, PA
Authors: Michael Sachs & Ward Oberholtzer
The presentation is intended to draw attention to trends that threaten implementation of large-scale ecological restoration projects. The author has observed increasingly frequent land use conflicts between watershed scale restoration and projects with poorly defined and/or limited sets of restoration goals, especially in geographic areas with increased ecological restoration efforts.
The presentation includes a review of fundamentals for selecting a restoration site, evaluating its restoration potential, and planning the appropriate restoration approach. Contrasting case studies illustrate negative outcomes of projects with limited restoration goals on lands with greater restoration potential, as well as examples of collaborative resolutions to potential conflicts. Too often, enhancing or protecting riparian vegetation on a disconnected floodplain creates a legal or political obstacle for future watershed-scale projects. Compensatory mitigation and climate resilience will often require restoration of landscape-scale features, including floodplain reconnection. Preservation and enhancement of threatened resources need not complicate future watershed-scale restoration.
About Michael Sachs
Mike Sachs serves as General Manager of RES’s Northeast Region. Mike has helped the region grow into a diverse business delivering some of the region’s most significant ecological restoration projects, such as compensatory mitigation and pollutant reduction, using various delivery methods.
Mike enjoys working every day with an excellent regional team consisting of dedicated, well-rounded professionals under the direction of recognized subject matter experts. Mike says the best part of working at RES is spending time in the field at RES’ job sites and working in the fun environment of our Pittsburgh office. Mike takes pride in delivering innovative ecological restoration projects with RES’s fast-paced but relaxed approach. Outside of work, Mike enjoys fly fishing and boating.
