Wildlands Engineering

March 30, 2022 In Firm News

Welcome Tim Morris to the Wildlands Team

We are pleased to announce that Tim Morris has joined the Wildlands team. Tim has been a long-time leader in restoration and mitigation in the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, managing over 40 full-delivery mitigation projects and developing mitigation banks in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Maryland. His 30+ years of experience with a broad range of environmental restoration projects has given Tim a well-rounded approach to problem solving and a unique ability to manage complex, large-scale restoration projects. Tim’s philosophy on developing successful environmental restoration projects is to promote ownership of projects from the ground up. This involves informing and training the project team, contractors, landowners, regulatory staff, project owners and other project stakeholders through diligent communication and involvement, resulting in proud ownership of all parties involved.

Tim lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife and two kids. When Tim isn’t working, he is usually coaching or transporting his kids to their various sports activities. He also loves to ski, mountain bike, hike, and playing slow pitch softball. Tim is excited to join the Wildlands team and contribute to achieving our goals for 2022 and beyond.

December 16, 2021 In Our Projects

American Bittern sighting at Chantilly Ecological Sanctuary at Briar Creek

The American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is a medium-sized, wading bird in the heron family. They are often found in the marshy areas along side of lakes and ponds. This particular American Bittern spent the past winter in one of the small retention ponds at our Chantilly Ecological Sanctuary in Charlotte, NC. The bird was first seen November 11, 2020 and wintered through April 25, 2021. During this time frame, it was spotted over 70 times! These birds typically prefer the coast, but this special bird decided to winter in the city. This is a success story for Chantilly and a point of pride for Wildlands!

Check out the photos below taken by Patty Masten, along with the eBird map showing all historical records for American Bittern in the county. Note, the red circle on the map marks the Chantilly location.

December 15, 2021 In Our Projects

Together, Wildlands Engineering and Wildlands Construction restore the Critcher Brothers Mitigation Site

We are thrilled to share this video that captures the synergy between Wildlands Engineering and our recently created construction company, Wildlands Construction. The Critcher Brothers Mitigation Site is a Wildlands-owned mitigation bank in the Yadkin River Basin of North Carolina. Approximately 21,000 cool stream credits will be delivered through stream restoration, enhancement, and preservation in a rural area historically used for cattle and agriculture. Construction was completed in 2021.

October 21, 2021 In Our Projects

Unique ‘Pink Sundew’ plant spotted at Wildlands‘ Devil’s Racetrack Mitigation Site

This spring, Wildlands’ land stewards found a new population of pink sundew (Drosera capillaris) within a restored wetland at our Devil’s Racetrack Mitigation Site. The pink sundew is a carnivorous, perennial plant found in pine savannas and wet, peaty areas. They are low-lying plants with rounded traps of sticky, tentacle-like leaves to hold their insect prey. This specimen was the first such sighting at the site and is also believed to be the first county record of the species (LeGrand et.al., 2021). Prior to restoration, the site was in agricultural production for decades. Seeing this plant recolonize after so many years in agriculture is truly remarkable!

The Devil’s Racetrack Mitigation Site successfully reached the close-out milestone in August 2021 and is now in long term stewardship.

Source: LeGrand, H., B. Sorrie, and T. Howard. 2021. Vascular Plants of North Carolina [Internet]. Raleigh (NC): North Carolina Biodiversity Project and North Carolina State Parks. Available from https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/index.php.