President: Bill Way
Founded: 1983
The Endangered Species Act is changing the environmental consulting industry in the Northwest, said Bill Way, president of the Watershed Co. in Kirkland. His concerns reflect those of many consultants in the area.
"I'm concerned about not getting bogged down in the ESA mantra. There’s potential regulatory malaise of people picking at each other and not seeing the forest through the trees, and not getting to solve anything," he said.
Way said he is among those who are calling for leadership in terms of public policy on salmon issues.
"We had an energy czar during the Energy Crisis. Maybe we need a salmon czar," said Way. He added that while he firmly believes in responsibility and accountability in the private sector, resolving issues involving endangered Northwest salmon populations will require strong leadership at a high level.
"ESA is changing our business. We’re going to have to do more studies, which means we have a different income than we’ve had before," he said. "I don’t know if the pie’s gotten bigger, but it’s diversified our business in the short-term."
"We seem to be doing a lot of Lake Washington biological evaluations," Way added.
Aside from ESA concerns, Way said his company has had "a very good year," which included completion of the Narbeck Sanctuary in Snohomish County, rehabilitation work for the city of Seattle at Thornton Creek; and gearing up for theTibbitts project in Issaquah.
The Watershed Co. is also working on a landfill in Pierce County for Land Recover, Inc. Launching a "big new job" for Land Recovery, Inc. for a Pierce Country landfill. The Watershed Co. specializes in wetland mitigation and much of their work involves area watersheds, wetlands, creeks and streams.