US Army Corps of Engineers, CA

Harris Environmental conducts habitat restoration and biological monitoring at a 62-acre portion of the former Fort Ord following soil remediation. Our restoration within the rare central maritime chaparral habitat with smaller inclusions of coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, grassland, and vernal pool habitats include seed/plant material collection, propagation, planting, seeding, erosion control, invasive species eradication, and restoration monitoring. Restoration monitoring measures vegetative cover, species richness, rare annuals density, plant survivorship, and photo point documentation. During biological monitoring, we focus on the biological impacts associated with environmental cleanup activities related to munitions and explosives of concern. This monitoring includes annual assessments of plant species density, annual grass density, locations of invasive and rare species, shrub transects, as well as vernal pool hydrology, wildlife, and vegetation. The data collected at the remediated areas are evaluated against their success criteria in annual reports, and the results are then presented to overseeing state and federal agencies.