Bee Informed: Case Studies on Handling the Presence of Threatened and Endangered Species on Construction Project Sites

The potential presence of threatened and/or endangered species on a project site is oftentimes not considered. Organisms such as the Rusty Patched bumble bee and northern long eared bat are found throughout much of the state of Minnesota. So how do you know if these organisms are on your site? And what do you do if they ARE on your project site? In this presentation, we will discuss the steps required to assess if any threatened and/or endangered species are present on your project site. We will outline the various agencies that must be contacted and timelines agencies may require for correspondence. Most importantly, we will offer several case studies of projects where various threatened and/or endangered species were present and what changes needed to be made so that the project could continue and be completed with no documented impact to the organisms of concern. Included in the discussion will be details including any potential project delays, as well as the financial impact of ensuring that there was no impact to any threatened and/or endangered species.