Westech Environmental Services Inc.

Who we are

ABOUT US

WESTECH ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES INC., located in Helena, Montana, was incorporated in 1977 by a group of reclamation specialists motivated by a desire to implement effective reclamation approaches on mines in the west. Since that time WESTECH has expanded our range of services to provide scientific, technical, and regulatory expertise to a variety of clients. Our list of clients spans the gamut from individual developers to global corporations, all while working out of the same office where it all began in the 1970’s.

We are proud of our commitment to quality and personal attention, which has remained the focus of our business strategy. Most of our clients become part of the family, and life-long friendships are born through our mutual interest in their well-being, in addition to their work. Our company size and structure allows us to specialize in personal service, practical approaches, and science-based solutions.

The WESTECH business model uses a small staff of experienced scientists that combine ecological expertise with real-world project experience. This approach enables our project managers to participate in all phases of project development and implementation – an approach that results in a high level of project knowledge and sustained credibility with regulatory agencies.

Our role in most projects is to bridge environmental science with engineering standards, legal principles, and regulatory requirements. Our teams consist of highly experienced personnel representing a broad range of scientific and regulatory disciplines. This depth of experience and a flexible business structure enables us to tackle large-scale projects that utilize a multidisciplinary team, as well as smaller projects that are handled by a single specialist. The centralized communication between our office and our clients allows us to maintain low overhead costs and high attention to detail.

Enter keyword or term to search our site.

What we do

SERVICES

PERMITTING & PLANNING

Developing a plan and permitting strategy during the design phase of a project reduces costs and shortens the development time frame for most projects. The project managers at WESTECH have the experience to work with the engineering and financial teams to prepare successful plan and permit documents.

RECLAMATION & HABITAT RESTORATION

Reclamation planning, oversight, and monitoring projects have been at the core of our project experience since the 1970s and continue to be a major focus of our work today.

ECOLOGICAL STUDIES

Ecological studies are a component of many projects and can vary from species-specific surveys to large-scale resource inventories.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA)

WESTECH provides NEPA support for clients by preparing Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Assessment (EA) documents.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL DUE DILIGENCE

This aspect of our work includes preparing conservation plans, easements, and environmental site assessments for realty transactions. This category of services also includes habitat restoration plans and resource mitigation banking.

SAGE GROUSE MITIGATION

Consultation with a designated conservation organization to define potential sage grouse impacts and mitigation measures is required by several western states.

Our project portfolio

PROJECTS

Wetlands Projects

NEPA Projects

Linear Projects

Hard Rock Mining Projects

Coal Mining Projects

Past and Current Clients

Who we are

THE TEAM

WESTECH employees come from a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds – plus they are all truly interesting people. You can learn more about them below.

JOHN BEAVER

Sr. Ecologist/Reclamation Specialist, Project Manager

John is a senior ecologist, reclamation specialist, and wetland scientist with over 30 years of experience in baseline natural resource surveys; wetland delineation, restoration, and permitting; project siting, NEPA analysis, construction oversight, and reclamation. He has managed several projects including baseline plant, wildlife, and wetland surveys, pipeline reclamation design, wetland restoration, and reclamation monitoring throughout the Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, and Midwest. – B.S. in Biology/Environmental Studies from Grinnell College, M.S. in Range Science from Montana State University

LISA LARSEN

Sr. Ecologist/Reclamation Specialist, Project Manager

Lisa is a senior ecologist, reclamation and permit specialist, and wetland scientist with over 35 years of experience in project management and administration. She has coordinated all environmental-related phases of project development, from initial reconnaissance-level surveys through permitting and construction to reclamation and monitoring, and is responsible for overseeing the submittal of several coal and hard rock mine permit applications. – B.S. in Agricultural Land Resources/Range from Montana State University

COREY BAKER

Soils Scientist/Reclamation Specialist, Project Manager

Corey is a soil scientist and reclamation specialist with over 18 years of experience in natural resource surveys, soil surveys, reclamation design, GIS and remote sensing analysis, permitting, and land restoration. He has provided analytical expertise to a variety of hydrology, vegetation, and soils mapping projects, ecological evaluations, and wetland mitigation plans across the western and southeastern United States. – B.S. in Water Resource Management from Western Carolina University, M.S. in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences from Montana State University

DAN CULWELL

Drafting Manager/Network Administrator

Dan is a senior drafting and GIS manager, as well as a network administrator. He has over 25 years of experience providing expertise in drafting, GIS, and GPS services. Dan operates a state-of-the-art drafting lab with the latest software that includes, among others, Autodesk AutoCAD, ESRI ArcMAP and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. He is an integral part of each project and oversees all drafting for our mine permit applications and revisions. – A.S. from Montana Tech College of Technology.

JESSICA ALLEWALT

Sr. Biologist/GIS Specialist, Project Manager

Jessica is a biologist with 20 years of experience in environmental assessments, remediation, and data management. Her experience includes wetland delineation, invasive and noxious weed surveying, due diligence assessments and reporting, sensitive species assessment, environmental surveys for linear projects, groundwater sampling, unexploded ordnance (UXO) removal, GIS development, and database design. – B.S. in Geology, double minor in Biology and Environmental Science from Augustana College, M.S. in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences from Montana State University

L. DEAN CULWELL

Sr. Plant Ecologist/Reclamation Specialist, Project Manager

Dean has over 40 years of experience in environmental baseline studies, permitting, construction oversight and monitoring. He has been the interdisciplinary team leader and project manager on dozens of projects throughout the west including energy development and transmission, coal and hardrock mining, assessment of environmental impacts and mitigation planning. He has been a principal in WESTECH since 1977. – B.S. in Forestry from University of Montana, Graduate studies in Forest and Range Ecology at University of Montana

PATRICK FARMER

Sr. Wildlife and Fisheries Biologist, Project Manager

Pat manages projects, directs and implements WESTECH’s wildlife and fisheries studies, prepares Biological Assessments (BA) for federally listed threatened or endangered species, prepares permit applications for mines, pipelines, transmission lines and other industrial facilities, edits technical reports, and contributes to and edits Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). He has 40 years professional experience, and has been a principal in WESTECH since 1977. – B.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from University of North Dakota, M.S. in Zoology from University of North Dakota

DAVE HAGEN

Biologist/Compliance and Training Specialist, Project Manager

Dave has over 25 years of experience as a biologist conducting natural resource surveys, environmental inspections, reclamation planning and design, sensitive species surveys, and third-party compliance program management. A long-time trainer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Bureau of Land Management, he has extensive experience in developing and presenting environmental training programs for participants in construction projects. – B.S. in Wildlife Biology from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Graduate studies in Wildlife Biology at State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry

PETE CHRISTENSEN

Wildlife Biologist/GIS Specialist

Pete is a wildlife biologist with expertise in threatened and endangered species, avian studies, botany, ESA, and NEPA. He has over 17 years of experience in biological assessments, research study design, sensitive species surveys, GIS analysis, agency coordination, and database management. – B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from University of North Dakota, Graduate studies, Biology Dept., University of North Dakota.

LACEY GUNTHER

Environmental Scientist

Lacey is an environmental scientist with 5 years of experience in biological assessments throughout the Pacific Northwest. Her experience includes wetland delineation, mine permitting and reclamation monitoring, sensitive species survey, and baseline vegetation assessments. She is also proficient in Microsoft Office and GIS services. – B.S. in Environmental Science, minor in Aquatic Biology and Water Resources from Oregon State University.

MORGAN BYRNE

Wildlife Biologist

Morgan is wildlife biologist who recently joined the WESTECH team after completing her master’s thesis. She has experience in waterfowl ecology, river ecology, biogeochemistry, data management and analysis, and GIS. - B.S. in Biology from Gonzaga University, M. S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Nevada, Reno

PAT CORRY

Sr. Botanist/Ecologist

Pat is a botanist and ecologist with over 40 years experience in vegetation, soils, and geological surveys and research throughout the western U.S. Her experience includes design and implementation of vegetation baseline surveys and monitoring programs; rare plant surveys, monitoring, and demographic studies; wetland delineation and functional analysis; weed and revegetation surveys; and environmental studies for NEPA and other regulatory permitting and compliance. – B.S. in Geology from Montana State University, M.S. in Soil Science from Utah State University, Ph.D. in Biology (Plant Ecology) from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

JOE WILLIAMS

Accountant & Office Manager

Joe joins WESTECH with 30 years of experience in accounting and office management. Joe's duties include payroll, administrative assistance, invoicing, human resources and AP/AR. He is proficient in QuickBooks Accounting Software, Excel and Word.

Where to find us

CONTACT US

WESTECH ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES INC.
406-442-0950
PHYSICAL: 3005 Airport Rd. Helena, MT 59601

MAILING: P.O. Box 6045 Helena, MT 59604

Get Directions