Meet Ecosystem Sciences

Meet Ecosystem Sciences
How ever it is described - restoration, rehabilitation, enhancement or recovery – the transformation of ecosystems from degraded conditions to functionality is a new, exciting and evolving field of knowledge. It is the amalgamation of ecology, biology, sociology, planning, architecture, and natural resource management. Advances in high tech tools like Geographic Information Systems provide platforms for usually desperate professions to form interactive teams. Ecosystem degradation is no longer addressed through isolated parts, but can now be approached wholistically. Nor is ecosystem restoration just a non-urban application. City landscapes are as integral to the whole ecosystem as are undeveloped or rural areas. Our organization, Ecosystem Sciences, is fortunate to have had opportunities that have placed us in the forefront of this evolving science, and allowed us to make significant and seminal contributions.

Ecosystem Sciences was formed over 15 years ago in response to the need to restore the Owens River Valley ecosystem in California. Although little was known at that time about how to reconnect uplands with bottomlands to restore riparian and river ecosystems to functional conditions, we learned early on that many fields of knowledge would be needed to achieve success. Perhaps the number one lesson learned in those early days was to focus on eliminating the causes of degradation not just treat symptoms. We learned that interventions within stream channels are relatively short-lived without interventions in land and water management that permanently remove the perturbations. Restoration of river, riparian, range and upland ecosystems throughout the Eastern Sierras grew into the largest ecosystem restoration effort outside of the Everglades. The project is on-going, we are still learning, and we have applied the scientific and technical advances gained to other ecosystem projects in western USA and internationally.

When Ecosystem Sciences was first formed, we recognized that technology transfer of what we were learning would be especially important in developing countries where the struggle toward sustainability and resource restoration is monumental. Relying on our many years of experience working in developing countries through the World Bank, USAID, and other international organizations, we also formed Ecosystem Sciences Foundation, a non-profit (501c3) arm of the firm, to advance technology transfer and assist other non-profits with comparable missions. Since then we have established a foundation office in Mexico where we have won an environmental award for our projects to improve water resources at the village level. We have established partnerships with the Overbrook and Tinker Foundations to sustain our Mexico programs. In Idaho, the Foundation has worked to provide scientific support for the listing of Big Lost River mountain whitefish as a threatened or endangered species. We developed an urban ecology design manual for the Treasure Valley to include Boise and other municipalities along the Boise River corridor, which won both regional and national awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Working with The Nature Conservancy on Silver and Loving creek is a natural fit between our mission and TNC’s mission. Our Foundation is self-endowed with monthly contributions from employees and monthly and annual contributions from Ecosystem Sciences.

Ecosystem Sciences Foundation team for the Silver-Loving creeks project will be led by myself (Mark Hill) and Bill Platts. Bill is undoubtedly Idaho’s most distinguished environmental scientist. He has studied, fished, or hunted more Idaho watersheds and streams than anyone alive. At his retirement from the US Forest Service in 1988, Bill was Chief of Research for the Intermountain West. He has written more research papers on riparian and river ecosystems and fisheries than any other American scientist, and is a recipient of the Earl Childs Award from Oregon’s High Desert Museum as well as numerous other awards and honors over his long career. Bill and I have worked together since his retirement and he has been my mentor, inspiration and teacher for over 20 years. I like to paraphrase Mark Twain when asked the difference between me and Bill; I say Platts knows everything there is to know and I know the rest.

While doing doctoral studies in 1978 one of my professors from Michigan State University called and asked if I would take on a research assignment in Bangladesh. The World Bank was initiating its First Fisheries Development Project and needed a young scientist who wouldn’t mind a lot of privation for little pay. Sounded like just the job for me. This lead to a 10-year career with the World Bank that gave me opportunities to work on some of the world’s largest river systems and most complex environmental issues in Asia and Africa. My most memorable professional experience came many years after leaving the World Bank. The Mekong River Commission asked me to write a detailed report on the ecology of the Mekong River and its fisheries from Burma to the South China Sea. The exploration took 3 months and I was the first scientist to go to places in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam since the war ended and describe the river and its aquatic resources. I was further honored by the Cosmos Club (founded by John Wesley Powell) in Washington, D.C. to present a paper on my findings and discoveries.

In addition to Bill and I, the work on Silver Creek will include our core team members who each have over 15 years of experience with river ecosystems and restoration. Tim Maguire, Zach Hill, and Shannon Campbell are currently working on a large project for the UN and the United Arab Emirates developing an atlas of how environmental changes have occurred and affected water resources in 22 Arab countries. In order to meet the challenges of this project, we have the latest equipment and computer systems for GIS and analysis of remote imagery, which we will apply to Silver and Loving creeks. Derek Risso, along with Bill and I, is involved in a Habitat Conservation Plan for several threatened and endangered species including the Greater Sage Grouse and two native fish species. We augment or team with associates from universities in Idaho and Oregon to meet special expertise needs and assist with other elements of our projects.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about Ecosystem Sciences and Ecosystem Sciences Foundation please visit our web site (www.ecosystemsciences.com) where you can get details on all of our projects and credentials of our team members.