RES Expands West Coast Team with Regulatory & Fisheries Expertise, New Office

RES, the nation’s largest environmental solutions provider, announced that Ken Sanchez has joined the company as Regulatory Manager for the Western Region, and Dan Chase has joined as Senior Fisheries Biologist.

“We are fortunate to bring on such seasoned and respected industry professionals in these key roles, as our growing base of projects takes us into important and sensitive habitats all along the Pacific Coast region,” said Tim DeGraff, Western Region General Manager for RES. “Ken’s broad experience as a wildlife and fisheries regulator is helping us streamline the process for our clients, while assuring the ecological outcomes agencies expect. He is known for his balanced approach and for finding solutions for both sides. On the fisheries side, Dan’s deep aquatic species knowledge, from permitting through monitoring, will help set up our species habitat projects for long-term success.”

Ken Sanchez is a national expert in Section 7 Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation and conservation banking. He started his wildlife career in northern California and eastern Oregon working on fisheries data collection and management, timber management, and spotted owl research. Ken went on to work in Alaska, North Dakota, and Montana on impact assessments for timber harvest, oil & gas development, coal mine reclamation, and Missouri River operations. Ken has a BS in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University and subsequently spent 30+ years in State and Federal government service, working for the California Department of Fish and Game (now called Fish and Wildlife), the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In addition to his significant field work and regulatory experience, Ken has lectured and taught a variety of audiences on ESA consultation and conservation banking.

For the past 14 years Dan Chase has worked as a fisheries and wildlife biologist focusing on threatened and endangered species and their habitats in California. Dan’s regional experience includes active and passive species surveys, population monitoring and genetic sampling techniques, habitat evaluation, fish passage evaluation, stream and wetland restoration, species and habitat monitoring, state and federal Endangered Species Act permitting, and mitigation. His education includes a BS from the University of California, Berkeley in Conservation and Resource Studies and a MS in Physiology and Behavioral Biology from San Francisco State University. Dan has been an invited speaker to domestic and international science conferences, published research, and is an Endangered Species Act Federal Recovery 10(a)(1)(A) Permit holder for tidewater goby. At RES, Dan will serve as the lead fisheries biologist for the Western Region, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and will be involved with developing and growing the technical practice in the region.

“Ken and Dan are great additions to the RES team as we continue our expansion into the western United States. With a wealth of experience and agency acumen, they are particularly suited for the complicated and rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in California and the West,” said Darrell Whitley, Chief Operating Officer, RES.

RES recently opened a Sacramento office and will be opening a San Jose office later in June, complementing our San Francisco presence.