Management

To support client requirements, Pacific Southwest provides the biological consulting services necessary for a successful project. These services include project management, initial project planning, ongoing support and consultation, preparation of the Description of Proposed Action and Alternatives, baseline data collection programs, impact analysis and development of mitigation programs and monitoring. Program, cost, and technical control systems are used on all Pacific Southwest projects and are in place and ready to support any programs.

Pacific Southwest’s Management Program is designed to provide constant monitoring and evaluation of both project management and technical progress against previously planned milestones on a near real-time basis. The program is tiered to our accounting system to insure commonality of the database and near real-time data presentation for project tracking, decision-making, and cost control. Each project is supported by the ability to plan, budget, and schedule tasks. This allows monitoring and evaluation of progress. The firm’s system also allows for the integration of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), resource leveling and the integration and roll-up of sub-project/tasks.

Pacific Southwest’s accounting system contains segments directly related to project management, scheduling, and cost control. This system, internal to the corporation, is designed to provide Pacific Southwest project managers with cost control tools tailored to our projects. The system provides managers with near real-time cost accrual data for tracking purposes. Five project significant reports are generated: (1) Program Budgets which are time-task budgets; (2) Contract (Project) status reports that summarize and break down total expenses by project and task orders; (3) Labor Utilization Reports which identify all direct labor charged against the project by week, month, and cumulatively; (4) Job status reports which identify purchase order and other ODC’s; and (5) Task order status reports which provide management with budget vs. actual costs and labor hour data on a weekly basis for integration in the Program Control system.

To maintain high quality, project managers comply with standard Pacific Southwest program management policies that specify a system of technical monitoring to ensure compliance with client requirements and adequacy of technical performance. This system may include the following:

A. Monthly progress reports which summarize progress against milestones. These reports allow Pacific Southwest and the client to perform an assessment of the overall project progress.
B. Internal technical reviews of the project based on functional events. These reviews involve Pacific Southwest technical experts and management staff, as appropriate, and are designed to assist in successful accomplishment of all project objectives. In addition, peer reviews are conducted to evaluate the technical quality of documents and reports before they are sent to the client.

Pacific Southwest is dedicated to employing effective technology to provide the most comprehensive services to our clients. To achieve this goal, the firm maintains high-end graphics, word processing, desktop publishing, and information management, reference, and retrieval systems.

The firm uses Pentium-based computers for the majority of our management, production, and other demanding applications, as well as 486-based equipment for less demanding applications. All final output is produced on Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4 laser printers at a resolution of 600 dots per inch.

Pacific Southwest has complete in-house document production capabilities including word processing, graphics, photography, and printing services. Our extensive software base includes WordPerfect 6.1, Microsoft Excel 5.0, Lotus Approach 3.0, Microsoft Access 2.0, Novell Presentations 3.0, Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0, Adobe Illustrator 5.5, Adobe Photoshop 4.0, and Microsoft Project. Communications and document transmittals are facilitated by two 28.8k US Robotics fax/modems, a Ricoh Fax2500L plain paper 24 hour fax machine, a HP ScanJet 6200C scanner, various on-line service accounts, and full Internet access. Our e-mail address is bio@psbs.com, or Mr. Beauchamp can be reached at mitch@psbs.com.

Pacific Southwest subscribes to leading technical journals and maintains a technical library that contains a variety of current technical books and reports. Among the various publications is a comprehensive and updated collection of local, state, and federal guidelines and specifications related to a wide variety of technical fields. The firm maintains an in-house library of circulated CEQA and NEPA project documents in southern California. This collection is a frequent reference for developers and agencies assessing impacts thresholds or the status of as-yet undeveloped lands. An experienced staff is available to provide resource assistance, reference, document acquisition, and on-line literature searches. Pacific Southwest is dedicated to a strategy of continually improving its information systems architecture, and stands poised to readily adapt that strategy to fit the needs of our clients.

Key Biologists

Douglas W. Allen
R. Mitchel Beauchamp
Cornelius W. Bouscaren
Eric Dugan
Michael U. Evans
Christopher M. Rodriguez
Geoffrey Rogers

Principal Botanist, Resume

R. Mitchel Beauchamp, M. Sc., President

Pacific Southwest and Tierra Madre have been assessing natural resource impacts in the southwestern United States for the past quarter century under the leadership of Mitch Beauchamp. The firms specialize in sensitive species surveys, general biological inventories, wetland permit processing and habitat restoration using low cost, sustainable techniques for plant establishment and growth.

Pacific Southwest, located in National City, California, is the corporate firm with the subsidiary firm, Gila Biological Services. Tierra Madre Consultants is a well respected, general biological consulting firm in Riverside, California established by Dr. Lawrence F. La Pré in 1978. In Arizona the corporation has established the firm of Gila Biological Services, Inc., located in Tempe. In Tijuana, Baja California Mr. Beauchamp is a consultant with Ecologicál, S.A. de C.V., a general consulting firm. The focus of the business activities of Mr. Beauchamp is to promote sustainable development in light of the high level of biodiversity of the southwestern U.S. and Mediterranean-climate region of Mexico.

Mr. Beauchamp was active in establishing the San Diego Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and served for many years as the Editor of the State Newsletter of the Society. He also is the author of A Flora of San Diego County, California, a compilation of the native and adventive plants known from San Diego County, an area of extremely high plant endemism in the United States. Mr. Beauchamp served for 8 years as City Council Member of the City of National City and was appointed as that City's representative on the San Diego Trolley and Metropolitan Transit Development Board, the mass-transit purveyor of south San Diego County. It was through this association that he became involved with re-opening the rail line to the east of San Diego. He is active with environmental issues in Mexico and he serves as a guest lecturer at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California on topics of ecotourism and botany. He is now drafting a floristic complication of the peninsula and adjacent islands of Baja California.