About

Karen Caddis is the principal, senior biologist, and wetland scientist at Caddis Environmental Consulting, LLC, a woman-owned small business. Over her 30-year career, Karen has been extensively involved in the coordination and/or management of multi-disciplinarian environmental and biological teams throughout the western U.S. and Alaska involving local and state governments, BLM, DOD, USFS, USACE, NRCS, CEC, OSM, FERC, and BIA. These have included biological studies and permitting for developments, utilities, transportation, oil and gas pipelines, hard and soft rock mining, reservoirs, ski areas, and renewable energy.

Karen specializes in coordination and completion of biological, wetlands, and environmental studies and documents in relation to regulatory permitting. She is also well-versed in preparing, evaluating, and conducting biological, and wetland delineation analyses to ensure compliance with applicable laws. She has managed and coordinated many biological field studies, associated NEPA permitting and reporting, and Section 404 and 401 coordination, including biological and wetlands studies for a 750 MW solar thermal electric development across 6,000+ acres in the Imperial Valley near El Centro, California; and over 50 large field efforts associated with military bases, airport development, mining, renewable energy, power plants, and other utility projects in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Montana, and Nevada.

Karen has bachelor’s degrees in Natural Resource Management, Physical Geography, and Journalism from Colorado State University and Eastern Washington University. She is current in both surface and underground MSHA training, is a USACE-certified wetlands delineator and CDOT FACWet-trained and is permitted by the USFWS to conduct Ute-ladies’ tresses orchid, black-footed ferret, Mexican spotted owl, and Chiricahua leopard frog surveys. She is also experienced in desert tortoise, raptor, migratory bird, rare plant, invertebrate, general vegetation, yellow-billed cuckoo, and southwestern willow flycatcher studies.