Peter Mcbride Email & Phone Number

As the State Wildlife Biologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Washington State, my role is to develop and improve conservation practices consistent with NRCS’s resource conservation goals, and assist field staff in guiding the successful implementation of those practices while working with private agricultural, ranching, and forestry landowners participating in NRCS’s voluntary resource conservation programs. Those programs, funded through the 2018 Farm Bill, include the Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, and Regional Conservation Partnership Program which encourage the protection and enhancement of upland and wetland wildlife resources. Our stewardship activities are often developed or implemented in collaboration with conservation partners, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, tribes, and local entities. I work in coordination with other Ecological Sciences staff, under the direction of Washington’s State Resource Conservationist, and in support of NRCS’s resource conservation mission as implemented through 37 field offices statewide.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

I worked in the Northwest Branch of the Division of Hydropower Licensing, in FERC's Office of Energy Projects, where I provided terrestrial resources expertise in the process of evaluating and licensing non-federal hydroelectric projects. This work was conducted in interdisciplinary teams, within which I provided technical support in the areas of wildlife biology, terrestrial ecology, threatened and endangered species management, and conservation policy. The process for proposing, reviewing, and licensing hydropower projects is directed by the Federal Power Act, and conditioned by other federal statutes including the Endangered Species Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Clean Water Act, and the Pacific Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Act. The Northwest Branch focuses primarily on hydropower proposals in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska.Authorization of hydroelectric projects is a federal action, subject to review through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. Our scoping of potential environmental effects of proposed and alternative actions included consultation with project proponents, resource agencies, tribes, the public, and other stakeholders, which informs and guides the development of our NEPA documents and, if issued, the terms of a hydropower license.

Rota, Commonwealth Of The Northern Marianas Islands

My work in the Mariana Islands supported the recovery of 40 federally-listed species in the archipelago, primarily the 26 listed vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant species on the island of Rota. Threatened and endangered species there include bats (both flying foxes and cave-dwelling microbats), forest birds, sea turtles, a skink, tree snails, insects, forest trees, arboreal and ground orchids, and herbaceous plants. Some of these species had been listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since the 1970s and 80s, while over half were newly recognized from a 2015 listing package. Rota is one of the more remote outposts of the US Fish & Wildlife Service; while the Mariana Islands Team had six FWS employees stationed across three of the archipelago's 15 islands, I was the sole Service employee on the island of Rota.To further the conservation of the wide array of listed species there, I worked with a variety of partner entities, including local (Commonwealth and Territory) government agencies, universities, non-profit organizations, and individuals. Conservation strategies there included surveys and inventories, nesting monitoring, captive breeding, rear-and-release, invasive species management (both predator control and herbivore exclusion), fire management, critical habitat designation, propagation and out-planting, and law enforcement interdiction. In addition to my participation in these collaborative restoration projects, I also provided ESA Section 7 consultation services, grant support for Partners for Fish and Wildlife and other projects, and had the lead role in researching and writing several 5-year status reviews for ESA-listed species. Finally, I worked with the islands' Mayor's Office, and several conservation partner organizations to re-initiate and implement a Landowner Incentive Plan to promote conservation on privately-owned lands of nesting habitat for the critically-endangered Marianas crow.

Bellingham, Washington Area

As an invited instructor at Western, I designed and taught an undergraduate course in field techniques for the study and assessment of terrestrial vertebrates and their habitats. The primary emphases of this course were methods for characterization of habitat and its selection; wildlife capture and marking; telemetry; and population estimation, diversity indices, occupancy, and productivity. I helped students design and conduct group research projects, as well as organizing and leading exercises at local field sites with a diversified set of vertebrate wildlife populations.

Laconner, Washington

My work at Swinomish focused on supporting the Tribe in realizing their full treaty hunting rights, both on and off-Reservation, as well as promoting science-based management of all wildlife resources of interest to the Tribe. As conveyed by the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community retains the right to hunt and gather not only on the designated reservation, but also throughout open and unclaimed lands beyond. This led to my collaborative work, together with other tribal and state co-managers, on the North Cascades elk herd. Managing this population involved annual aerial surveys, as well as capturing and radio-collaring elk. Closer to home I initiated work on the local black-tailed deer population on the Swinomish Reservation, using GPS collars for movement, survival, and habitat selection studies. I also conducted a two-year inventory of terrestrial vertebrates at the Kukutali Preserve, a unique venture which is jointly managed by the Tribe and Washington State Parks.

Sedro-Woolley, Washington

As the Northwest Region Biologist for the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), my role was to support the Department in successful implementation of DNR's 1997 State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan--first within the framework of the Department's 1992 Forest Resource Plan, then later under their 2006 Policy for Sustainable Forests. My work focused on DNR's forestry program, conducted across 350,000 acres of state timberlands in northwest Washington State, located primarily within Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish counties. A large proportion of the work centered on two federally-listed Threatened species , the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet. My responsibilities included breeding-season surveys for these imperiled birds, as well as year-round identification and protection of their essential forest habitats, delineated both from forest inventory data and extensive and detailed field assessment. I also surveyed for peregrine falcons, bald eagles, northern goshawks and other rare species, and devised protective measures for their nesting and roosting sites as well as for a suite of special habitats, including cliffs, caves, balds, talus fields, and old-growth forest stands. I worked with State Lands foresters across two Districts toward the shared goal of protecting a wide array of listed and unlisted native species and key habitats, while using a range of silvicultural techniques to initiate more complex future stand conditions and continue generating revenue for the Trust beneficiaries. Over the course of the decade I spent with the Department, I recruited, trained, and supervised three other staff biologists and a dozen seasonal technicians, as well as working with survey crews from several consulting firms. Also, I frequently provided technical training on wildlife and habitat identification for the Department's foresters and other State Lands staff.

Sedro-Woolley, Washington

Implemented interim marbled murrelet conservation strategy under the Washington State Department of Natural Resource (DNR)’s State Lands Habitat Conservation Plan, directly involving approximately 50,000 out of 387,000 acres of state-managed forest lands across five counties in northwest Washington (primarily Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish Counties).Designed region-wide survey and habitat assessment projects, scaling scope-of-work to budgetary and geographic constraints; developed, advertised, evaluated, awarded, and administered work contracts; based contract award on both cost analyses and benefit analyses of submitted proposals; worked closely with contractors and crews to assure that program objectives were met; conducted systematic quality-control reviews of delivered survey data; stipulated correction of data errors to ensure accuracy and completeness to program standards and, in the case of more egregious problems, negotiated adequate mitigation measures by contractor to restore data quality requirements; administered contracts and assured timely payout for completed work; developed and maintained survey database and GIS survey and habitat layers.Conducted marbled murrelet audio-visual occupancy surveys and habitat assessments in diverse locations throughout the Northwest Region. Murrelet A/V surveys required cross-country travel through rugged forested environments in the dark, in order to be on-station for protocol predawn start; occasionally overnight camping was necessary for more remote sites. Mapped suitable nesting habitat, and advised on timber buffering options to mitigate wind, predation, and other potential climate-related impacts to the long-term viability of the habitat for this federally-listed Threatened species.

Mount Vernon, Washington

Developed and populated habitat database (MS Access) for the Salmon & Steelhead Habitat Inventory & Assessment Project, including fish distribution, barrier, hydromodification, and riparian parameters. Mapped detailed stream segmentation throughout the Nooksack, Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish River watersheds (Water Resource Inventory Areas 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7), based on USGS 1:24,000 cartography, valley confinement parameters, and hydrology mapping from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.Provided data delivery and analysis to seven North Sound treaty tribes. Conducted field-based verifications of geomorphological and biological habitat attributes.

Master Of Science (Ms), Terrestrial Ecology

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Biology, General