RDG team member walking a trail on a grassy hillside at Havey Canyon

Environmental
Planning

Environmental Planning is the strategic and procedural foundation that makes RDG's restoration and design work possible, working out what should happen on a site, who decides, and how permits and funding come together before Restoration Engineering or Landscape Architecture take over. Watershed plans turn scattered knowledge into shared strategy, permitting clears the regulatory path, and grant writing turns a strong design into a funded one, closing the gap between what a landscape needs and being able to act on it.

Clearing the way for restoration

A park or trail can be judged two ways: does it work for the people who use it, and does it work for the land it sits on. RDG designs as if both questions matter equally. A trail gets routed to protect a sensitive slope. A park gets shaped around a restored stream instead of next to it. The land and the people who use it end up shaping the same design, not competing for space in it.

What this looks like in practice

Environmental Planning at RDG breaks down into five connected areas, each addressing a different piece of what it takes to move a project from idea to reality.

Watershed Plans

Working at the largest scale RDG operates, watershed plans look across entire drainage systems to understand conditions, identify opportunities, and set direction for future restoration work.

Site Management Plans

Site Management Plans address the ongoing stewardship of conserved land. RDG works with landowners to develop management plans that guide how a property is cared for well after our direct involvement ends, balancing public access with long-term ecological health.

Permitting

Permitting is among the most consequential services RDG provides, often the one that determines whether a project happens at all. RDG secures permits from agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers and US Fish and Wildlife Service, building regulatory requirements into the design from the start.

Public Participation

RDG treats the communities living alongside a project as participants, not just stakeholders. Design charrettes, field visits, and public meetings bring local knowledge and priorities into the planning process.

Grant Writing

The step that turns a finished design into a funded one. RDG writes competitive grant applications grounded in realistic cost estimates and a track record of successful restoration, then stays involved managing the contract after funding is awarded.