Mr. Garrett has more than 35 years of experience in natural resources consultation, and impact assessment, particularly in the areas of resource identification, delineation, restoration, and mitigation; aquatic and wetland biology; wildlife habitat assessment; wildlife habitat assessment; fisheries &aquaculture; nonpoint source pollution evaluation and remediation; diagnostic evaluation of estuarine, limnetic and terrestrial conditions; environmental site assessment; and regulatory compliance. Specific areas of expertise include:

• Thursday, July 13, 6:00 PM

• The general question of "Why should we care about sea-level rise at a national and local level?

• Then more specifically, why should we care, physically (economics), chemically (atmospherics), and ecologically?

• Why do we care (economics and emotions)?

• What should we do (economics and ecology)?

•  Why should we care and why should we do something?

Municipal Experience-

As part of the several projects that Mr. Garrett is currently involved in, he assists the Town of Dartmouth, MA as their part-time Conservation Officer working hand-in-hand with the Towns Environmental Affairs Director on Conservation Projects and with the local Conservation Commission.

Agency Expertise-

Mr. Garrett has served as the Project- or Task Manager on several coastal and inland projects sponsored by resource management or regulatory agencies which include: MassWildlife, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (MADEM), the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MCZM), the Maine Department of Transportation, the New York State Department of State - Office of Coastal Resources, and several municipalities. Each case required extensive interaction and permits from various Federal, State, Regional, and Local jurisdictions including the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management, and Sustainable Fisheries Act; Sections 404 & 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act; Section 10 of the Federal Rivers and Harbors Act; the Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard Commissions; and Local Wetland Protection and Zoning Bylaws/Ordinances.

Agricultural Experience-

Mr. Garrett has also served as the Project Manager and designer for several agricultural projects along the coast and in the coastal plain, that included: the development of a Water Supply/Tailwater Recovery Pond in response to a TMDL at the Ware Bogs in Plymouth, MA, the development of a Water Supply/Tailwater Recovery Pond, and Expansion at the Watercourse Bogs and the Black Cat Cranberry Bogs, in Plymouth, MA; the development of a Water Supply/Tailwater Recovery Pond and Productive Cranberry Acreage at the Dream at Last Farms, in Dartmouth, MA; the development of a Water Resources Monitoring Document for the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association; Wildlife Habitat and Functional Assessment Evaluations on Productive and Inactive Cranberry Bogs in both Oregon, on its coastal plain/plateau, and in the New Jersey Pine Barrens for the Cranberry Institute; and several resource identifications and characterizations, and feasibility evaluations for the development of vacant agricultural uses.

Regulatory Experience-

Many of these projects also required permits and compliance with the Massachusetts environmental agencies, and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) document preparations and approvals. Relevant projects include both Ram and Bird Island Tern Nesting Habitat Restoration in Buzzards Bay, Shellfish Mitigation for Runway-End Safety Improvements at Logan International Airport; Boston Harbor Navigation Improvement Project; Mobil-East Boston Terminal Berth Dredging and Seawall Stabilization Project; Salisbury Beach Assessment (Beach Processes and Shoreline Structures Assessment) in Salisbury, MA; Oyster Pond River Dredging in Chatham, MA; the North Salisbury Beach Nearshore Disposal Site Designation in Salisbury, MA; and the Reedy Meadow Inland Waterway Dredging project in Lynnfield and Wakefield, MA. Of interest are the Grassy Pond Bog Restoration, Water Management Compliance for D & W Cranberries, and again the Bird Island Tern Nesting Habitat Restoration Projects. In the two (2) former cases, Mr. Garrett requested and was granted waivers from completing required EIR=s under the review thresholds; making the case that the ENF=s adequately and completely addressed the requirements of MEPA, and the preparation of either EIR would not be better serve the environment. In the latter case, Mr. Garrett completed a DEIR as was contracted for; and again, he made the same case indicating that the DEIR that he prepared adequately and completely addressed the requirements of MEPA, and the preparation of an FEIR would not better serve the environment. He was granted waivers in the two (2) former cases and was granted a rollover of the DEIR to an FEIR in the latter. Each of these projects involved wetlands, waterways, and/or wildlife or endangered species issues. In the latter case, Mr. Garrett sought a variance from the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act for proposed impacts on salt marsh resources and was assured that it would be granted but the variance was put on hold due to interagency disagreements on finalizing the offsite mitigation requirements (if any). He has also managed the natural resource database compilation for the recently completed Environmental Inventory along the Long Island Sound Shoreline of Southold, NY, and the Essex County Dredge Management Plan for MCZM and Essex County Planning in Salem, MA. Mr. Garrett=s experience with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management and Sustainable Fisheries Act includes his conducting Essential Habitat Assessments as required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (New York District).

Teaching/ Presentation/Publication Experience-

Mr. Garrett is currently adjunct faculty at Quincy College – Plymouth and Bridgewater State University - Geography Department, was and previously at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy - EPSEM Department. At Quincy, Mr.Garrett is handling the teaching and advising of, and much of the direct program development for the newly formed Aquaculture Certification Program, largely responsible for the scientific disciplines. At both Bridgewater State University and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, he teaches (taught) Earth Science, Physical Geography, Introduction to Biology, Computer Applications, and Introduction to GIS. He also has guest lectured at Cape Cod Community College has served as the Chairman of the Town of Plymouth Planning Board and has held various other Board positions including but not limited to being the former Chairman of the Town of Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals. Mr. Garrett has also published several journal articles and presented to various symposia including the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth (then the Southeastern Massachusetts University) during their 1987 symposium “Estuarine Ecology, Economics of the Coast”. In addition, Mr. Garrett has been a Technical Review Editor for the annual ASTM Plant Toxicity Symposia and Publications (1989 to 1994); was a technical advisor to the biological curriculum development (cranberry agronomy) at Wareham High School (MA), and sat as a member of the committee to develop Best Management Practices for upland cranberry bog development.

Summary Statement-

Mr. Garrett currently provides aquatic, wetland, fishery, and wildlife consulting services throughout New England, and the United States (e.g. Wildlife Utilization and Functional Evaluation at several New Jersey and Oregon Cranberry Farms, and the assessment of Missouri River floodplain wetlands at, and adjacent to the 23rd. Avenue Landfill in Council Bluffs, Iowa). The latter included detailed natural resource assessments in support of a defense case against a Corps of Engineers adjudicatory investigation into wetland violations by the owners. He has also provided expert testimony on a River Protection Act case in a MADEP adjudicatory hearing. His experience also includes several hazardous waste assessments and wetland/waterway remediation in New England (ACOE and MADEP), New York State (NYSDEC), and Iowa (DNR); and experience in shellfish aquaculture. Mr. Garrett brings with him an extensive resume and an evolving understanding of environmental and regulatory issues and provides seamless permitting and regulatory support services in an ever-changing and more complex environmental arena.