Public Outreach Services

Ecosphere offers public outreach services associated with NEPA and Comprehensive Environmental Resource, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) projects, as well as, support with public involvement opportunities related to memoranda of understanding, or simply when collaboration with the public is a component of a successful project outcome. Ecosphere works with clients to help define the public participation goal and then determines the best techniques to help achieve those goals.

Capabilities include development and implementation of public outreach programs, public scoping programs and comment analysis processes, community relations plans, community workshops, interactive educational programs, media relations strategies and tactics, and public meetings/open houses. Other services include document development—public notices, newsletters, fact sheets, press releases, video scripts—website design and maintenance; web-based and hard copy survey creation, distribution, and data assimilation;  and poster content and design for public meetings/open houses.

Recent experience includes:

  • Public outreach support for Swift Energy’s oil shale exploratory drilling in La Plata County, Colorado – public meetings and poster design.
  • Tribal outreach for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Natural Resource Management Plan, Programmatic EA – survey to tribal members, newspaper notices, poster design, and open house opportunity.
  • Internal scoping and tribal outreach meeting for the Southern Ute Growth Fund’s North Carracas Oil and Gas Plan of Development EA – scoping support and tribal outreach meeting.
  • Public participation for Wolf Creek Ski area’s master plan update – public meetings, support with video production, web-based survey, and survey result assimilation and reporting.
  • Public participation support for Peabody Natural Resource Company, El Segundo and Lee Ranch Coal Mines, Lease by Application EA – public meeting, newspaper notification, venue logistics, poster design, and public comment summary.
  • Third party contractor to OSM for the BHP Navajo Mine Area IV North Plan Revision EA, San Juan County, New Mexico. Activities included public scoping and outreach support that included flyers, fact sheets, newspaper announcements, radio public service announcements, workshops at two Navajo Chapter Houses, scoping comment analysis and summary. This project included coordination for Navajo translation of all written materials and meeting presentations.
  • Working with third-party contractor to lead the NEPA public participation program for the proposed controversial Desert Rock Energy Project draft EIS in New Mexico, Colorado, and on the Navajo Nation – meetings were held at ten locations including chapter houses near the proposed project area. Navajo translation support was coordinated for all aspects of this public participation program.
  • Provided public outreach support per Saguache County’s 1041 Application to Tessera Solar North America’s 200 MW Solar Project in San Luis Valley, Colorado – two public meetings, newspaper notification, landowner notification, radio public service announcements, collection and summary of public comments, and follow-up correspondence with meeting attendees.