Ridolfi Engineers

Location: Seattle
President/Founder: Callie Ridolfi
Specialty: Civil engineering and environmental consulting for management and protection of natural resources
Year Founded:1990
Largest Current Project: Cleanup, sediment remediation and creek restoration at the former Rayonier mill site at Port Angeles for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

Not surprisingly, salmon restoration and water quality are the hot environmental issues this year, says Callie Ridolfi, president and founder of Ridolfi Engineers of Seattle. Last year's listing of several salmon species on the Endangered Species List has made more work for those in the environmental industries. "I think we're becoming busier because of that," Ridolfi says. "We're seeing the fruits of that regulation."

Ridolfi Engineers worked on a new stream channel and a 'bottomless culvert' low-profile arch passing Omak Creek through a mill operations area.

As a result, Ridolfi has taken on the role of president of People for Salmon, a non-profit volunteer organization working to help community-based restoration projects, which she says are "critical for restoration of salmon resources."

"I think in order for the salmon restoration to be successful it will have to be a combination of both regulatory agencies and community-based grass roots efforts," she says. Agencies can regulate, but it takes land owners and community groups to make the "ground work" happen. "I think that's one of the driving forces of our work right now -- to get the stake holders working together to implement those projects."

People for Salmon provides training, technical assistance, and volunteer outreach for community-based watershed and habitat restoration projects. "They do that by building trust and communication with land owners and community groups," Ridolfi says. "A lot of these community-based groups (would) like to do the right thing, but they might not have the technical expertise to permit a project, design a project, organize volunteers and do the monitoring."

The group is broad-based, made up of engineering professionals, tribes, volunteers and the YMCA, as well as members of the Association of General Contractors and the Consulting Engineers Council of Washington.