Partner
Mr. Casey Swecker is a Partner at Edge Engineering and Science, LLC (EDGE) where he leads the Protected Species Practice.
Casey has been working in the environmental field since 2001, focusing primarily on issues associated with impacts to rare, threatened, and endangered species. His specialty is aquatics where he is considered a subject matter expert by both federal and state agencies for his work with freshwater mussels, crayfishes, and ichthyofauna, but he also possesses significant expertise with endangered and threatened birds, bats, small mammals, herpetofauna, plants, macroinvertebrates, and terrestrial insects including beetles, bees, millipedes, and butterflies.
Much of his consulting career has focused on Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance in support of federal and state permitting and NEPA assessments for large, complex energy projects where he has led formal and informal consultation, development of Biological Assessments (BA), negotiated and implemented mitigation plans for impacts to protected species, and developed and implemented long-term monitoring programs.
Mr. Swecker has also worked directly with the USFWS and other state natural resource agencies to evaluate listing criteria and proposed species rankings, develop new and modify existing sampling protocols for aquatic species, organize workshops and proctor species exams for other consultants, and prepare large federal grant applications to secure funding that resulted in purchase of lands, established conservation funds, and created preserves that protect species and their habitat.
Casey’s private-sector clients operate within the renewables, including wind, solar, and hydroelectric; oil and gas; chemical; electric; and manufacturing industries. He also has substantial experience on the government side supporting projects for the Department of Transportation in numerous states, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as other federal and state government agencies.
Casey holds a Master of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.