2013 Industry/Government Conference in WY

The 2013 Industry/Government Conference is in Rawlins WY this Wednesday, March 13th, at the Jeffrey Memorial Community Center.

CSR’s Natural Resource Department Manager, Micheal Clancy, will be presenting: “From Pre-Disturbance to Final Release: Utilizing GIS for Effective Land Reclamation on Oil and Natural Gas Projects”.

What is GIS? Esri ebook

Esri offers an ebook for GIS.

CSR, Inc.’s GIS Team is adept at providing consulting, remote sensing analysis, field data collection, map production, web mapping, and federal reporting. We also excel at providing site and goal specific services to our clients such as identification of weed infestations, precise tracking of restoration activities, and custom database development.

Click here to learn more about CSR’s GIS and GPS services.

ISU’s World GIS Day Event

CSR’s GIS Team will be attending the 2012 World GIS Day festivities at Idaho State University.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) incorporates geographical features with attribute information in order to map, analyze, and assess real-world problems. The collection and analysis of GIS spatial data is an invaluable tool for the understanding, documentation, and successful restoration of complex projects.

CSR, Inc.’s GIS team is adept at providing consulting, remote sensing analysis, field data collection, map production, web mapping, and federal reporting. We also excel at providing site and goal specific services to our clients such as identification of weed infestations, precise tracking of restoration activities, and custom database development.

“Join ISU’s GIS TReC for this year’s World GIS Day Event on Wednesday, November 14th, 2012. We will have event stations, trivia, and prizes along with a host of interesting speakers. The lunch hour includes the 8th Annual Chili Cook-off followed by an East Idaho Regional GIS Resource Center (EIRRC) meeting and hands-on learning stations. All events are open and free to the public.

Come and spend the day at ISU’s Rendezvous Building and learn more about the fascinating field of Geographic Information Systems. Admission is absolutely free! -Keith T. Weber, GIS Director, ISU”

Weed Management

GPS locating Russian Knapweed for a client in Gooding, Idaho.

CSR offers many different services with regards to weed management. Often, the first step is to know what invasive species are present and where they are located. Weed mapping, GIS map-making, and a restoration site plan are needed early on in the process. This enables the landowner to see where specific problems are throughout the whole landscape and offers a strategy or game-plan for reaching their restoration goals.

CSR’s Talented GIS Team

CSR’s Michael Callen, GIS Analyst, and Lance Bennett, Idaho Regional Manager, collaborate over a map developed by the talented CSR GIS Dept.

Spatial awareness allows us to truly understand disturbances created by both man and nature: how those disturbances change sites over time and their actual impact to the surrounding environment.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) incorporates geographical features with attribute information in order to map, analyze, and assess real-world problems. The collection and analysis of GIS spatial data is an invaluable tool for the understanding, documentation, and successful restoration of complex projects.

CSR, Inc.’s GIS team is adept at providing consulting, remote sensing analysis, field data collection, map production, web mapping, and federal reporting. We also excel at providing site and goal specific services to our clients such as identification of weed infestations, precise tracking of restoration activities, and custom database development.

Our GIS Specialists utilize cutting-edge technology and expertise to collect, store, and analyze field data and information as well as produce accurate custom maps. CSR, Inc.’s technological resources include Trimble™ Technology and ESRI’s Software Suite, ArcInfo™ and ArcServer™. Fully utilizing GIS and GPS technology enables us to streamline the storage and analysis of any form of spatial data in digital format to provide you, the client, with exacting data for your restoration project.

Major benefits of site specific GIS analysis are:

• precise measurement and mapping of all surface disturbance features & restoration classifications

• ability to accurately & efficiently recommend locations for partial release

• production of a targeted remediation program for problematic areas

UW Graduate Students Work with British Petroleum to ID Effective Reclamation Practices

Originally published on the University of Wyoming website, July 14, 2011:

Two graduate students at the University of Wyoming will compile then sift through a database from British Petroleum of more than 1,000 gas well pads to glean the best restoration and reclamation practices in Wyoming’s natural gas fields.

Renewable resources students Benjamin Wolff and Michael Curran, working with the Wyoming Restoration and Reclamation Center (WRRC) and BP, are collaborating with Conservation Seeding and Restoration (CSR), a reclamation contractor for BP, to identify effective and timely reclamation practices.

Both BP and WRRC are funding the project, said Pete Stahl, director of the WRRC, which is in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“BP is contributing its large reclamation database developed over the past seven years working in Wyoming gasfields with an estimated value of $1.2 million,” he said. BP is paying the salaries of two CSR employees to work on the project, and the WRRC is paying for the students’ graduate assistantships and travel costs.

CSR is based in Kimberly, Idaho, with a field office in Rock Springs.

Gary Austin, BP America’s regional regulatory adviser, and CSR restoration ecologist Steve Paulson, who have worked together on gasfield reclamation in western Wyoming for several years, initiated the project. They met with Steve Williams, a professor in the Department of Renewable Resources, who works with the WRRC, and Stahl, Wolff and Curran.

“I think they could see how much benefit could come from this kind of research – advancing the state of land reclamation in the cold, high deserts of Wyoming, not only for BP and CSR, who will certainly benefit, but for the whole industry and state of Wyoming,” said Wolff of Laramie, who took on the project for his thesis.

“We all have very strong interests in reclamation and also in improving our ability to accomplish good land reclamation in the challenging environments we have in Wyoming,” said Wolff.

Working out the details took time but, “All agreed the research and potential benefits are too important to let details get in the way,” he said.

The database could help identify trends that lead to successful reclamation of sites disturbed by oil and gas drilling, said Curran of Manasquan, N.J., who will also develop his thesis from the project.

“If we can pinpoint and understand these trends leading to successful reclamation, that knowledge is going to play a huge role in implementing successful practices on future reclamation projects,” he said.

Organizing the database is the first phase. The database will incorporate more than 1,000 BP well pads undergoing reclamation. Later this summer, general reclamation trends will be isolated and techniques for further examination identified.

The infusion of Geographic Information System information will boost the database horsepower.

“Without the geospatial component, essentially all we have is a database that can perform limited operations,” said Wolff. “The geospatial component allows us to take the analysis several steps further by integrating space and time with data transformation to produce complex models and thematic maps. This allows us to better understand reclamation by isolating gaps in knowledge and identifying reclamation trends.”

The results could have wide-ranging effects.

“Not only is this research going to be helpful to BP and CSR,” said Curran, “but it will be a valuable tool for all of those involved with land reclamation associated with oil and gas extraction in the Rocky Mountain region.”

Results and any recommendations coming out of the study, including best management practices, will be made publicly available, said Stahl.

SWPPP – Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans

CSR’s Natural Resources Department was in southern Wyoming recently, surveying well sites for SWPPP.

Desertification, the loss of topsoil to wind and water erosion, is a persistent concern in arid ecosystems. Managing erosion is a standard component of comprehensive restoration plans. This management takes the form of Storm Water Pollution Prevention (SWPPP) plans. SWPP plans encompass elements directly tied to soil preparation, seeding and erosion control. Effective strategies for controlling erosion include:

• Best Management Practices (BMP’s), including silt fencing, straw waddles & erosion control fabric. Straw crimping traps and retains moisture, adds organic material to the soil and slows erosion.

• Planting cover crops, such as sterile annual triticales, which can quickly add structural stability to the restoration project.

• Applying polymers and tackifiers retains soil and seeds as well adding to the soils ability to absorb moisture.

CSR Celebrates GIS Day 2011

The CSR GIS Team visited a local 4th grade classroom this week in celebration of GIS Day 2011.  As with last year, students participated in an activity based on the building of an imaginary dam across the Snake River, highlighting both the anthropogenic benefits a dam provides and the environmental consequences of building a dam.

CSR’s GIS Team is adept at providing consulting, remote sensing analysis, field data collection, map production, web mapping, and federal reporting. Site and goal specific services are also available to clients, such as identification of weed infestations, precise tracking of restoration activities, and custom database development.

2011 Esri SAG Award

Conservation Seeding & Restoration, Inc. has been selected to receive a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) award at the 2011 Esri International User Conference. This award is given to user sites around the world to recognize outstanding work with GIS technology. CSR stood out from more than 100,000 others. Great work CSR GIS Team!

Well Site Restoration

Conservation Seeding and Restoration Inc offers a professional package for Well Site Restoration. This includes mapping, monitoring, soil testing, seeding & spray services.  With native revegetation, thorough data collection, rapid response to issues, strict adherence to safety procedures, and comprehensive documentation, we can expedite well site recovery.