Providing Environmental Services Since 1967

Coastal Environments, Inc. (CEI) assists clients in the governmental, business, industry and private sectors by providing biological services required for site and regional planning, design, implementation and monitoring for development, as well as natural resources conservation, restoration and sustainability. The firm, founded and headquartered in Baton Rouge in 1967, operates out of four branch offices and conducts biological investigations throughout the Northern Gulf Coastal Plain and Mississippi River Valley Region in both nearshore marine, coastal estuarine and freshwater wetlands and upland environments. 

The firm’s biologists have degrees in biological and ecological sciences and wildlife and fisheries management and remain current in their fields through specialized training, workshops and seminars. They conduct investigations and produce professional quality reports in compliance with the most current regulatory guidelines and protocols. CEI’s biologists maintain excellent working relationships with clients and regulatory agencies which result in repeat business and expeditious project performance.  Routine biological services include:

• Wetland Delineations and JD Requests
• Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species Surveys
• Biological Assessments
• Floral and Faunal Surveys
• Habitat Characterizations
• Mitigation Bank Design and Monitoring
• NEPA Compliance Documents
• Regulatory Compliance Monitoring
• Seismic Survey Monitoring
• Habitat Damage Assessment
• Water Quality Investigations
  

Coastal Environments, Inc. provides numerous wetland related services to assist clients in Planning and Resource Management, Regulatory Compliance, Environmental Investigations and Characterizations, and Litigation Consulting.  Many of these services are in response to regulatory compliance with federal, state, and local governmental laws, regulations, and executive orders, the most commonly being the Clean Water Act of 1972, as amended and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA):

Coastal Environments, Inc. scientists have prepared wetland delineations ranging in size from less than one acre to over 600 acres on time and within budget.  Delineations and the associated reports prepared from these investigations are as a matter of course accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (New Orleans, Vicksburg, Galveston and Mobile Districts) and commended for their accuracy and thoroughness.

Because wetland delineations are continuously being conducted, CEI maintains an extensive collection of historic though modern maps, aerial photographs, and reference materials including: soils maps and surveys, geologic and hydrologic maps, flood zone maps, aerial photographs, National Wetland Inventory Maps (1956, 1978, 1988), land use maps, regional vegetation inventories, threatened and endangered species inventories, and topographic maps.  Additional data is routinely downloaded from the Internet for specific projects and/or obtained through personal communication with government agencies.

Coastal Environments, Inc. (CEI) has been a leader in environmental planning for over 30 years.  As a pioneer in resource management, CEI advocates the use of environmental resources on a sustainable basis through comprehensive planning.  The continued well-being of our communities’ economic and cultural institutions, and quality of life, depends on the land use and resource management commitments made today.  To be effective, the planning process must include direct participation of all affected interests and be comprehensive in perspective by considering the full range of social, economic and environmental concerns that shape the future.

CEI uses a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to planning that is based in its applied science division.  This arrangement provides planners direct support by essential scientific and technical personnel including, ecologists, biologists, botanists, geographers, GIS professionals, hydrologists, geologists, archaeologists, and geomorphologists.  Environmental planning services provided by CEI include: regional and local land use planning, land use regulation, regional facility siting analyses, best management practices, wetland management, wetland restoration and mitigation, environmental damage analyses, and best use site analyses.  In all cases science is applied in support of planning. CEI works to balance the needs for human use of the land with the need for conservation and preservation of natural resources.

CEI’s planning team includes ten members with advanced degrees, seven have PhD’s and three have Masters’ degrees. Three team members are experienced and qualified GIS professionals. CEI’s planning team offers a unique combination of talents to effectively provide a full range of environmental planning services. The firm has extensive experience in the development of comprehensive plans for coastal and riparian cities, towns, floodplains, wetlands, nature preserves, estuaries and the regions of which they are a part. These plans are developed through the firm’s expertise on coastal and river basin forms and processes, applicable control structures, hydrological and geological sampling and analyses methodologies, and knowledge of the effects of continued development in the nation's riparian and coastal areas.