Wetland delineations are a core capability.           Photo by Tierra Data, Inc.

Key Projects Contribute to 20 Years of Experience

San Diego Bay Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan
(Coastal America 2001 Partnership Award)

San Diego Bay’s managers and stakeholders will make sounder decisions because of their collaboration on this plan. We led, along with our clients, a diverse technical Working Group to collaboratively resolve issues and set a course of action for providing the stewardship that San Diego Bay’s natural resources require, while also supporting the ability of the Navy and Port to meet their missions and continue functioning within the Bay. The Working Group saw the planning process as an agent of change. It consisted of federal, state and local regulatory and resource agencies, academic researchers, as well as non-governmental environmental groups. The ecosystem approach reflected in the Plan looks at the interconnections among all the Bay’s natural resources and human uses, across ownership and jurisdictional boundaries. The leadership in both sponsoring organizations signed the plan. Some highlights of the follow-up implementation have been creating a new intertidal and subtidal island as mitigation for a nuclear carrier facility, the largest habitat enhancement project ever completed in San Diego Bay, and coordinating new educational and public outreach initiatives focusing on the Bay’s natural resources among multiple organizations. Clients: U.S. Navy Southwest Division and San Diego Unified Port District.

Interpretive Signs for Chollas Heights (City of San Diego Orchid Award)

To educate residents of new homes built adjacent to a habitat preserve, we designed, supervised production, and installed a set of 29 interpretive signs along a trail system. The signs highlighted both the environmental and cultural heritage of the site. Client: U.S. Navy

Grizzly Bear Habitat Modeling (U.S. Forest Service Award)

This project integrated the life history and habitat components of the grizzly bear into satellite imagery and a GIS-based model of how these are impacted by land uses overlapping their home range in a large watershed in the northern Rocky Mountains. The existing model was conceptual and Tierra Data converted it to a GIS-based system to evaluate alternative scenarios for environmental impact assessment, and presented results to an interagency committee of biologists. Client: Flathead National Forest Tally Lake Ranger District Whitefish, Montana.

San Clemente Island Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan

San Clemente Island harbors priceless assets that are inextricably linked--it is an indispensable platform for national defense readiness, and home to globally significant natural resources including 12 threatened or endangered species. This Plan was built to comply with the Sikes Act Improvement Act of 1997, and involved collaborative, interagency, and interdisciplinary planning. The process brought together users, managers, researchers, and agencies with responsibility for, or interest in protecting SCI resources, who partnered together in the form of a Working Group led by Tierra Data. Public involvement was supported through internet-based collaboration and outreach. The Plan included strategies and an action plan for managing the island’s natural resources for five years, de-conflicting military training requirements, and an Environmental Assessment under NEPA. Client: U.S. Navy.

Wildland Fire Management Plan for Center for Natural Lands Management, Barnett Ranch

As part of the County of San Diego’s Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) Subarea Plan, the recently acquired Barnett Ranch is to be included in the open space reserve system for the purpose of preserving sensitive resources. The Center for Natural Lands Management is a local conservancy that manages reserve lands. We developed a Wildland Fire Management Plan that is consistent with Area Specific Management Directives for using the property as a biological reserve and for restoring habitat for MSCP’s target species. Client: Center for Natural Lands Management.

Point Loma Interagency Wildland Fire Management Plan

Land Condition and Ecological Trend, San Clemente Island, Fallbrook,
Camp Pendleton, Fort Irwin, Twentynine Palms

We have exceptional expereince designing and implementing long-term monitoring programs, applying quantitative measures for vegetation condition and trend, soil quality, water quality, management focus species, and ecological process indicators. On San Clemente Island, this work has spanned 12 years. We also statistically analyze data acquired from the field and interpret it for managers and decision-makers. We recommend sampling designs that are cost-effective and efficient at getting to the key, early-warning indicators of ecological change.

Fire Monitoring and Research Studies, Camp Pendleton

As part of the adaptive management foundation for the Wildland Fire Management Plan for Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, which was developed by Tierra Data, a follow-up program of field studies was designed to address data gaps and management challenges associated with the effects of wildland fire on sensitive natural resources. Fire incident reports, aerial photography, and field visits were used to map the boundaries of fire. The resulting maps and location data were used to compare fire patterns with Success Targets outlined in the Fire Plan.

For a more detailed description of this project see
Core Capabilities—Wildland Fire Plans and Studies

Ecological Restoration

Wetland Delineation, Fallbrook/Tustin/Flagstaff/Camp Pendleton

Biological Assessment, Mexican Spotted Owl

Biological Assessment, Wildland Fire Management Plan, Fallbrook

Educational Brochure: “Wood Canyon: Resources at Risk”

Eelgrass and Kelp Survey and Monitoring

Underwater Bathymetry Change Detection, Enhancement Island

Ecosystem Change Detection—flat-tailed horned lizard

Aerial Photography/Orthorectification

Watershed Assessment and Sediment Yield Prediction, Scott River

Essential Fish Habitat Data Support, NOAA Fisheries

GIS Needs Assessment, NOAA Fisheries, Honolulu

Soil Erosion Studies, Twentynine Palms, Camp Pendleton