Niswander Environmental has managed and restored thousands of acres of natural lands, consisting of wetland and upland habitats. These lands include properties owned by government agencies, local park systems, private landowners, and non-profit entities.
Based on the client’s needs, Niswander Environmental uses adaptive management practices to establish realistic goals for success. Adaptive management is the process of determining site specific conditions and ecosystems, creating a management plan, monitoring results, comparing them with expectations and modifying management decisions to better achieve long-term and short-term conservation and stewardship goals. Our staff provides expertise, unique perspective and specialized equipment to ensure the project goals are met.
PROJECT EXPERTISE
- Invasive Species Control
- Annual Monitoring
- Ecological Assessments
- Controlled Burns
- Native Seeding/Planting
- Erosion Control
- Hydrologic Monitoring
- Water Level Manipulation
- Adaptive Management
Niswander Environmental partnered with the City of Rochester Hills to develop the Natural Features Stewardship Program that focuses on stewardship and restoration activities at 7 City-owned Green Space properties, totaling over 120 acres. The goal of this Stewardship Program is to permanently preserve natural green spaces, wildlife habitats, and scenic views, and to protect woodlands, wetlands, and watercourses by expanding the Clinton River Greenway and other trail corridors. In 2015, the City and Green Space Advisory Board hired Niswander Environmental to develop and implement a Long-Term Management Plan that includes 29 projects at 7 properties. Projects include woody species control, invasive species control (Phragmites, garlic mustard and Japanese knotweed), stream restoration, prairie restoration, and wetland enhancements.
Project Clarity is an initiative by the Outdoor Discovery Center Macatawa Greenway (ODCMG) to restore the Macatawa watershed to remediate the water quality issues of Lake Macatawa and the Macatawa Watershed. This initiative uses a combination of Best Management Practices (BMPs), community education, and long-term sustainability to make long-lasting impacts on the Macatawa Watershed. Niswander Environmental has been responsible for the design of all Project Clarity wetland restoration projects and several of its BMP projects. To date, Niswander Environmental has created wetland restoration designs for Paw Paw Foot Bridge Park Restoration, the Middle Macatawa North, South and West restorations, the Haworth Mitigation Bank, Peters Creek Natural Channel Restoration, and over 1 mile of two-stage ditches in the watershed.
