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North Dakota

The Wenck North Dakota offices opened in 2003, 2011 and 2012 to better serve our clients in North Dakota. Wenck Associates, Inc. is a leader in engineering, environmental, and consulting services. We provide industries and local, state, and federal agencies a full spectrum of services related to infrastructure, water, air, land, waste, and industrial processes. From our Fargo, Mandan and Minot offices we delight our clients by being responsive, reliable and proactive, thereby adding the most value possible to your business or organization. Our North Dakota team focuses our natural resource services to balance the demand for energy industry needs with the preservation of our natural environment.  Our team has extensive background in project management as it relates to engineering design, construction administration, permitting/regulatory requirements, and renewable energy projects.  Our staff features many Natural Resource Specialists focusing on flora and fauna specific to North Dakota and the northern Great Plains region.

Click here for contact information and office addresses

Click here for Mandan, North Dakota, Mid-Level Engineer or Scientist Position – Positions are near the bottom of the page.

Professional Services:

Recently, we have been assisting facilities across the state of North Dakota in maximizing energy conservation. Our focus is to provide energy audits that can assist you in making sometimes simple changes to reduce current and future energy costs.  We also offer a full complement of the following engineering services:

  • Energy Audits
  • Environmental Assessments (EA)
  • Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
  • Landfill to Gas Energy
  • Municipal Engineering
  • Phase 1/Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs)
  • Renewable Energy
  • Site Permit applications
    • Air Permitting
    • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Permitting
    • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting
  • Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP)
  • Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC)

Professional Services Project Examples:

Click the project titles below for more information.

Project Examples to Come.
Wenck Project Examples To Come.

Natural Resource Services:

Wenck can help the wind farm developer erect wind turbines in a remote, rural area, and determine if those turbines will attract birds/bats or disrupt their migratory patterns. We can also assist in the process of developing oil well sites on federal or tribal lands by determining the effects this development may have on wildlife, in addition to dealing with the federal NEPA process. With our diverse group of biologists, ecologists and other technical experts, Wenck addresses these biological, terrestrial and water issues with an ultimate goal of managing natural resources in the midst of industrial development.

Services to the Wind Energy Industry:

Critical Issues and Fatal Flaw Analysis

Endangered Species Act Compliance

Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs)

Botanical and Floristic Studies

Wetland Surveys and Delineation

Biological Monitoring during Construction

Tree and Shrub Replacement Mitigation

Surveys:

•Migration and Seasonal Avian

•Raptor Nest and Flight

•Bat Migration (Anabat)

•Prairie Grouse Lek

•Post-Construction Avian and Bat Mortality

Services to the Oil Industry:

Wildlife and Botany Biological Assessments and Evaluations

Endangered Species Act Compliance

NEPA – Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)

Species of Concern Raptor Nest Surveys

Oil and Natural Gas Well Reclamation Plans

Archaeological Services Provided by our Teaming Partners:

Interpretive Planning

Preservation Compliance

Archaeology

Tribal Consultation

Architectural History

Section 106/NEPA Compliance

Other Services:

Forestry and Forest Restoration and Management Plans

Federal, State and Local Consultation

Habitat Assessments and Restoration Plans

Soil Surveys

Vegetation Sampling and Monitoring Studies

Airport Hazardous Wildlife Surveys and Evaluations

Land Easement and Fee-Title Acquisition Services

USDA Conservation Program Technical Assistance and TSP Qualified

Compliance (USFS, BIA, BLM, USFWS, USACOE, NDPSC)

Services to the Wind Energy Industry:

Archaeological Services Provided by our Teaming Partners:

Critical Issues and Fatal Flaw Analysis

Interpretive Planning

Endangered Species Act Compliance

Preservation Compliance

Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs)

Archaeology

Botanical and Floristic Studies

Tribal Consultation

Wetland Surveys and Delineation

Architectural History

Biological Monitoring during Construction

Section 106/NEPA Compliance

Tree and Shrub Replacement Mitigation

Surveys:

·Migration and Seasonal Avian

Other Services:

·Raptor Nest and Flight

Forestry and Forest Restoration and Management Plans

·Bat Migration (Anabat)

Federal, State and Local Consultation

·Prairie Grouse Lek

Habitat Assessments and Restoration Plans

·Post-Construction Avian and Bat Mortality

Soil Surveys

Vegetation Sampling and Monitoring Studies

Airport Hazardous Wildlife Surveys and Evaluations

Services to the Oil Industry:

Land Easement and Fee-Title Acquisition Services

Wildlife and Botany Biological Assessments and Evaluations

USDA Conservation Program Technical Assistance and TSP Qualified

Endangered Species Act Compliance

Compliance (USFS, BIA, BLM, USFWS, USACOE, NDPSC)

NEPA – Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impacts Statements (EISs)

Species of Concern Raptor Nest Surveys

Oil and Natural Gas Well Reclamation Plans

Natural Resources Project Examples:

Click the project titles below for more information.

Biological Assessments/Evaluations of Oil Well Settings, Billings, Golden Valley and McKenzie Counties, North Dakota.
Wenck personnel have completed numerous pre-development floristic and wildlife surveys at proposed oil well sites on U.S. Forest Service Lands in western ND. Sites have ranged from 10 to 160 acres and included surveys of proposed access roads. Wenck develops determinations of the potential effects to threatened, endangered and sensitive wildlife and plants and makes recommendations for mitigation to the U.S. Forest Service in a Biological Assessment/Evaluation Report.
NEPA – Environmental Assessments for Oil Facilities in North Dakota.
Wenck has developed Environmental Assessments (EAs) for oil well sites on Corps of Engineer and Bureau of Indian Affairs lands. Projects included writing all aspects of EAs, including fieldwork associated with soils, threatened and endangered species, botany and land use. Projects involved coordination with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Corp of Engineers, USFWS and other state agencies. Successfully addressed all client-project needs and met budget and scheduling requirements.
Pre and Post Construction Wind Farm Wildlife Studies.
Wenck personnel have conducted avian surveys at a variety of wind farm sites in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Pre-construction surveys include: Point Count Avian Surveys, Raptor Nest Surveys, Crane Surveys, Sharp-tailed Grouse and Greater Prairie Chicken Lek Surveys. Wenck personnel have also conducted post-construction surveys to identify species behavior after wind energy development. Surveys include: Whooping Crane Monitoring, Post-Construction Mortality Monitoring, Searcher Efficiency Trials and Carcass Removal Trials. Whooping crane surveys are conducted to identify whooping crane flight behavior to wind turbines and to shut turbines off when whooping cranes are observed within close proximity to the wind farm. The objective of post-construction mortality monitoring surveys is to determine the estimated number of bird and bat mortalities due to collisions with the wind turbines. Mortality monitoring is also used to determine if fatalities are occurring with specific species of concern, or federally or state listed species due to wind farm operation. The purpose of searcher efficiency trials is to estimate the overall percentage of carcasses that searchers are able to find during fatality searches in order to adjust estimates of turbine fatalities. Carcass Removal Trials are conducted to determine how long carcasses persist (number of days) on site before being removed by scavengers in order to adjust fatality estimates.
Pre-Construction Native Prairie Surveys, Proposed Wind Farms, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Wenck personnel have surveyed the extent and quality of native prairie tracts within several proposed wind farm developments throughout North Dakota and South Dakota. On-the-ground pedestrian surveys were completed of private and public rangelands and pastures in which dominant vegetation was identified, overall prairie quality was assessed, areas of differing quality were delineated, and past and present land uses were determined. Data is used for avoiding the siting of turbines in high quality prairie and potential Dakota Skipper habitat (ESA Candidate species).
Western Minnesota, Vegetation Monitoring of Prairie Remnants.
Wenck personnel have been contracted with ongoing monitoring studies of remnant grassland and aspen parkland tracts throughout northwest Minnesota, the upper Minnesota River valley, west-central and southwestern Minnesota. The project is a collaborative effort between six agencies and organizations. The role of Wenck personnel is to use a specified protocol to sample vegetation along 25-meter transects, one per ten acres at each site. GPS is used to locate transects; previously sampled transects are found using metal detectors to locate permanent metal stakes. Expert plant identification is required for the project.
FAA – Airport Hazardous Wildlife Surveys.
Wenck personnel have conducted studies to evaluate proposed residential/wetland developments around airports to assess the developments potential as a hazard wildlife attractant to airport operations. Wenck provided guidance, design, and construction practices to eliminate and/or manage any hazardous wildlife attractants.
Revegetation of Oil Field Access Roads in the Little Missouri National Grasslands, western North Dakota.
Wenck personnel completed a two-year study which assessed recovery of the plant community on reclaimed access roads in the oilfields of the Little Missouri National Grasslands. Study sites were selected from an area of over 1 million acres using a combination of information from MS Access databases, GIS maps, aerial photos, hardcopy records and interviews with grassland managers. Wenck personnel designed and implemented sampling methodology in such a way as to compare the existing plant community on removed access roads to adjacent undisturbed vegetation as well as to seed mixes used for reclamation of each road. GPS was used for navigation as well as for recording the location of each study site.