2nd Quarter 2006
Ecological
Restoration
|
|
|
|
Inside
|
President’s
Message
Over the years we've come to realize that our natural environment is not just a luxury, but at the heart of our very survival. We not only owe our children clean water, air and adequate open space, but also the range of biodiversity that we enjoy today. Imagine if the bald eagle became extinct, and our national bird was only available stuffed and mounted in museums. They would never be able to witness the majestic flight of an eagle soaring over the open water. From the red-cockaded woodpeckers in Fort Bragg, NC, to coral reefs in Puerto Rico, Berger has been studying and preserving endangered species and their habitats.
Our global environmental practice includes building large environmental databases, developing and testing regional and national policy initiatives, advancing procedures to stem environmental degradation, undertaking program management of major environmental assignments, preparing Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Environmental Assessments (EA), and developing techniques and tools to restore damaged ecosystems. In the past, salt marshes were drained for agriculture or mosquito eradication or filled for development. Today, we see salt marshes as nurseries for fish and shell fish, filters for storm water runoff and key habitat for biodiversity, and Berger has restored salt marshes and estuaries throughout the United States. Attention has also recently been focused on stream restoration—returning streams to their original meandering form with abundant vegetation growing on their banks. As open space in our urban areas becomes increasingly scarce, finding productive uses for closed landfills and brownfields is as important for the next generations as observing the flight of a bald eagle. Brownfields legislation has made redevelopment of these underutilized sites viable, and Berger has been involved in a number of important recent initiatives. Our global environmental practice is one of the world's largest, ranking fifth in environmental management in 2006 according to Engineering News Record. In this issue of BergerWorld, we are spotlighting some recent accomplishments in ecological restoration, a critical element in our practice. 
| |||||||||||||||||||||
