All About Lakes, LLC

Habitat Services

Our Habitat Services Division provides professional habitat analysis, restoration design and construction services to meet a variety of client needs. Our professional and certified biologists and engineers have completed numerous aquatic and terrestrial habitat projects throughout the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions. Each project involves an existing (or baseline) site analysis. This initial assessment allows our biologists to evaluate existing habitat; determine habitat improvement needs, potential and limiting factors; and formulate a site-specific habitat restoration and management plan. Each habitat plan is designed to satisfy the client's objectives for fisheries, waterfowl, upland game bird, small game, and big game management. In general, we offer complete habitat enhancement and management services for streams, lakes and reservoirs, wetlands, and terrestrial systems (e.g., food plots, buffers, etc.).

Aquatic Habitat

A cost effective method to improve fish populations in lakes and reservoirs is simply the enhancement of fish structure in optimal locations. Through our mapping services program, we have the ability to identify these optimal areas, thereby ensuring maximum results. This process involves developing a baseline contour map, identifying optimal lake locations for structure placement, and installing different types of habitat structures (e.g., Porcupine Fish Attractors, rock piles, brush, and wood structures). Upon placement, locations of each habitat structure can be recorded and placed on the original lake map, providing the client with a very useful reference for long term use.

Shoreline protection is an important management action to maintain a lake's physical, chemical and biological integrity over a long term period. Protection and stabilization of shorelines minimize siltation, depth loss and water quality problems. Our biologists and engineers can evaluate your shorelines and formulate a site-specific protection plan to enhance your lake. Depending upon your geographic location, we can also supervise and conduct construction activities.

Our professional biologists have investigated riparian and instream habitat for numerous stream habitat restoration projects. This process involves collection and analysis of biota, stream flow, substrate, bank conditions and stream morphology. These data are used to measure baseline habitat quality and functionality, which in turn are used to develop habitat restoration plans. We have used numerous techniques to improve stream habitat, including bank sloping and revegetation, boulder placement, and bank and instream structure installation (e.g., wing deflectors, log cribbing, bank armor, tree revetments, siltation baffles, divider logs, digger logs, spider logs, root wads, etc.). We can provide stream habitat restoration services from baseline inventory, restoration design, permitting and construction to long term project monitoring.

Terrestrial Habitat

We have integrated our mapping techniques with our wildlife habitat management capabilities to provide our clients with the most cost effective terrestrial habitat management services available. We first conduct a baseline habitat inventory by identifying and classifying existing habitat and wildlife use. This information is used to measure overall habitat quality and enhancement potential. In general, we evaluate existing habitat types, quantity and quality. For habitat enhancement design purposes, we assess other important features, including geographic area, climate, hydrology, topography, soil quality, surrounding land use and features, and wildlife management objectives. Consideration of these factors allows our biologists to formulate and implement comprehensive habitat improvement and management plans to meet each client's needs. We have the capability to assess, design, construct and monitor wildlife habitat throughout the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions.

By using an integrated land map illustrating existing and potential habitat sites, and applying site-specific habitat improvement capabilities, we can design several types of wildlife habitat features, including food plots (i.e., legume and grain), brush piles, cover thickets, and field borders and filter strips. We can also develop plans for prescribed burning, fencing, mowing, soil amendment, strip disking and natural revegetation activities. Each habitat feature is specifically designed to meet the client's objectives for management of small and upland game (e.g., rabbits, quail and pheasants), big game (e.g., white-tailed deer and turkey), waterfowl and non-game species.

Wetlands

We are staffed with professional, certified wetland scientists with extensive experience throughout North America. Our wetland services include: 1) official wetland determination, 2) wetland delineation, 3) site mitigation design, 4) wetland creation design, 5) permit acquisition, 6) wetland construction and planting, and 7) long term monitoring and special-case investigation. We have the capability to assess any type of wetland, identify its quality and functional values, evaluate restoration needs, formulate a management plan, and improve its quality using a variety of techniques. We can also integrate wetlands and site-specific types into our mapping services. Our wetland services can be used for standard wetland studies, as well as for wildlife habitat improvement purposes.