The ELM Group (ELM) and its operating division Environmental Planning Consultants' (EPC) approach to environmental planning is to understand the goals and values of the local community while recognizing the regional influences and pressures on natural resources. Assessment, management and restoration plans emphasize sustainability of the natural resource services and minimization of the need for active management. In addition, a guiding principal adopted by ELM is that disturbance to natural systems unavoidably causes interrelated impacts that often cannot be fully predicted. Therefore, enhancement of the natural structures and functions is the initial point of evaluation, rather than a redesign of a natural system or hard engineering in order to obtain services needed to support a particular land use. Where properties are highly disturbed due to historic uses, ELM evaluates future sustainable land use practices that are realistic and practical based on current and reasonable future resource needs.

ELM’s Natural Resources / Planning services are integrally linked to our Waterways Management Specialty Group and Permitting / Compliance services, and are an important component of all our company services.

To support its approach to environmental planning, ELM has the capacity to inventory natural resources (functions, values and structure) to ensure its management plans are compatible with the natural system and competing demands for resources. These inventories typically include characterization of the physical, chemical, biological and social components of the system with a recognition of the permitting and engineering limitations on resource uses.

• Natural Resource Inventories
  • Wetland Delineations / Functions and Values Assessments
  • Stream Encroachment and Floodplain Management
  • Agency Consultation / Coordination and Pre-Application Meetings
  • Plant and Animal Population and Community Surveys
  • Threatened and Endangered Species Surveys
  • Perennial Stream Determinations
  • Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Fish Community Studies
  • Lake, Pond, and Reservoir Assessments
  • GIS Modeling and Mapping

• Land Use Management and Planning
• Environmental Assessments and Impact Statements
• Natural Resource Damage Assessments
• Baseline Ecological Inventories and Evaluations
• Ecosystems Restoration and Enhancement
• Wetland Mitigation / Creation and Restoration Plans
• Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Plans
• Municipal Comprehensive Plans
• Conceptual Site Plans
• Due Diligence Investigations
• Ecological Risk Assessments
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• Water Quality and Quantity Assessments
  • Watershed Management Plans
  • Water Budget Analysis
  • Stormwater Management
• Surface Water
• Chemical Analysis
• Biological Assessments
• Habitat Quality Assessments, including Riparian Corridors
• Aquatic Impact Assessments
• Discharge Permits
• Risk Assessment of Chemical and Biological Agents
• Well Head Protection Plans
• Ground Water
• Chemical Analysis
• Flow
• Recharge Protection and Enhancements
• Withdrawal Assessments
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• Limestone/Karst Region Water Management and Planning
• Hydrogeologic Assessments
• Expert Testimony
• Sinkhole Assessments, Subsidence Hazard Evaluations
• Karst Geology Management Plans

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