Questions?

Frequently-Asked Questions

In my professional discipline, the broad skill sets I provide to clients can be priced in the commercial market from $115 to $335 per hour.  Since I am a one-stop shop, my overhead is much less.  My hourly rate is set at $150.  However, I typically charge a lump-sum fee for smaller projects that have fixed, defined deliverables.

At this time, I accept check, and Zelle.  For checks, please remit payment to “GG Environmental, LLC.”  For Zelle, remit to “[email protected].”

My most active counties are Kittitas, Yakima, and Benton, followed by Chelan, Grant, Adams, Franklin, and Klickitat.  However, my professional footprint extends across Eastern Washington.

Download and complete a Client Information Form or Preliminary Consultation Agreement and email it to me.  The difference between the two forms is covered HERE.  I will then send you an Estimate/Agreement with Terms and Conditions for your review and signature.  Email the signed documents to me (PDF format) and I’ll get you on the calendar.

If you run into technical difficulties in emailing me a completed form, you can also snap a picture of it using your mobile phone and text it to me.

This service is offered to those seeking a rapid risk assessment for a property in question.  The Client is interviewed, publicly-available data are harvested online, and a subsequent field visit is completed to check observable conditions on the ground – during which the Client is welcome to accompany GG.  Preliminary findings are then documented in writing either via email or short memorandum for the record.  The objective of a reconnaissance is, for example, to help the Client decide whether to purchase a questionable property or to determine what permitting path likely lies ahead for a proposed project.  If you would like to know if a site reconnaissance is a good choice for you, give GG a call.

Make sure you don’t buy a lemon.  Request a feasibility period and work with your realtor to have the property inspected by a Professional Wetland Scientist.  I discuss this in depth here.

The federal National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) is a heavily-referenced source of wetland location data.  Local jurisdictions can mirror these data in their critical areas maps (e.g., Kittitas County).  Others can maintain their own wetland data that look somewhat different than the NWI  (e.g., Yakima County).

Mapped wetland locations are largely derived from reconnaissance-level information garnered via spectral analysis of historic aerial imagery.  For most of Washington State, the NWI mapped wetlands are based on images shot in the 1970s and 1980s.  As such, accuracy of the mapped wetlands is limited.

Counties do not consider their wetland maps as definitive but rather rely on them as environmental baseline data grounded on the best available science – a starting point, or “trigger,” if you will.  If a wetland is mapped on your property, the county is probably going to advise you that a field investigation is the only way to determine if a wetland is currently present on your property.

This is an simplified permitting instrument for projects that do not impact wetlands or wetland buffers.  It can only be used to authorize single-family dwellings and associated home site features such as additions, driveways, gardens, fences, wells, lawns, and on-site septic systems.

If a wetland buffer intersects your property, including a buffer associated with a wetland on an adjacent parcel, the buffer limit will need to be marked with permanent, clearly visible, wetland buffer signs.  This must be completed even if your project does not impact that buffer.  Contact Community Development Services for more information.

It is very important to know if fish can be present – even in an irrigation ditch or stream that flows seasonally. The county maps are in need of updating and may not reflect current distribution science on fish. Fish presence can significantly increase a stream buffer radius. A call to your local WDFW Field Office can get you this information. See the Resources page for more links.

The answer to that question depends on several things.  It depends on what kind of field data you need, how much snow, how much area is to be surveyed, where your project is located, what the terrain looks like, whether or not wetlands are mapped on your property, and/or the amount of risk you are willing to shoulder.
 
Case in point:  wetlands.  A formal wetland delination should ideally take place during the “growing season” i.e., when plants are actively growing.  Wetland Climate Tables (WET Tables) are referenced to determine the growing season at your particular location (detailed explanation here).  If a delineation takes place outside the growing season, a delineator must still be able to gather sufficient field data to arrive at a solid determination.  If plants aren’t visible under the snow or the ground too frozen to dig soil pits, then a determination would be limited to a superficial field overview and online data mining.   This would likely not possess enough scientific “Mojo” to get your permit through the review process.
 
That said, each project scenario is unique.  Feel free to call me to discuss.

Professional certification as a PWS is issued by the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS).  Certification signifies that the academic foundation and work experience of a PWS meets the standards expected by the peers of a practicing wetland professional and provides acknowledgment of adherence to standards of professional ethics with regard to the conduct and practice of wetland science.  It is a globally-recognized designation, the most coveted career recognition in the wetland field.