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- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Supporting Wetlands Today and Throughout the Year
February 2 is World Wetlands Day, a day to celebrate and honor these invaluable ecosystems. Through a variety of projects on several contracts, our employee owners support wetlands throughout the year. Below are some examples of projects that CSS works on to support wetlands and promote the benefits they provide.
- National Wetland Condition Assessment. Our employee owners have supported research in wetland biogeochemistry and ecology for over two decades through our contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pacific Ecological Systems Division in Corvallis, Oregon. Much of this work has been associated with National Wetland Condition Assessment as part of the EPA National Aquatic Resources Surveys. CSS staff helped develop field protocols, analyze water samples, and conducted field surveys.
- Field Studies. Through our contract with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, we have supported many projects related to wetlands around the country, including monitoring and assessing wetland restoration projects, using unoccupied aircraft systems to monitor wetlands, ecological assessments, economic valuation of wetlands for shoreline protection, and many more. Our scientists work in the field along with NOAA scientists to study and collect data that will be useful to coastal communities and decision-makers.
- National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Our employee owners primarily serve as coastal management technical experts and liaisons between the national estuarine research reserves and NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (the agency that manages the system in partnership with state agencies, academic institutions, or non-profit organizations). The estuarine reserve system protects nearly 1.4 million acres of estuarine, wetland, riverine, forest, and open water environment.
- Data and Tools. Through the contract with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, our staff develop and manage data, tools, and training that help coastal managers understand the benefits of wetlands. These products include Land Cover Data, Sea Level Rise Viewer, Coastal County Snapshots – Wetland Benefits, and the Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper.
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Monitoring Air Quality in California’s San Joaquin Valley
CSS employee owners supported the deployment and operation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality monitoring trailer (WEAVE COM – Western Enhanced Air quality VEhicle for COmmunity Monitoring) in California’s San Joaquin Valley in during late fall and early winter of 2024. Elevated particulate matter (PM2.5) is frequently found throughout the valley during…
Assessing Contamination in Abandoned Mines
CSS supports the Environmental Protection Agency with assessing contamination within abandoned mines. There are thousands of abandoned mines throughout the western United States. Many of these mines are leaching heavy metals into nearby streams or have contaminated soils causing vegetation die off. CSS employee owners conduct field work to assess the extent of this contamination.…
New Heavily Desired High Resolution Land Cover Data for the U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced the launch of the long desired high-resolution coastal land cover data. This highly anticipated data are available for most coastal areas of the U.S., including Alaska and the U.S. territories. CSS employee owners contributed to the release of this data set by participating in production activities and…