Specializing In
Due Diligence for Land Conservation Projects
Baseline Documentation Reports, Mineral Assessment Reports, & Environmental Site Assessment Reports (Phase I/II/III & TSP) for Conservation Easements & land transactions.
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
Phase I/II/III ESAs and Transaction Screen Process Reports in
accordance with current ASTM standards for abandoned mine lands and other real-estate and land transactions.
Mineral Resource Assessments
Mineral resource evaluation & geological reports including Mineral Potential Reports, Mineral Remoteness Letters, & Mineral Assessment Reports for Federal, State, and private land transactions.
NEPA Studies and Analysis
Environmental Assessments and Biological Assessments/Biological Evaluations for salinity control and other small infrastructure projects.
Special Status Species Surveys
Rare plant, nesting raptor,
and sensitive species surveys; clearances for infrastructure projects.
Threatened and Endangered Species Inventories
Threatened and Endangered Species surveys, inventories, and clearances for infrastructure projects.
Who We Are
James Armstrong
Geologist & Environmental ScientistJim is a Geologist and Environmental Scientist based in western Colorado since 1998. Jim earned his B.S. degree in Geology from Kansas State University in 1983 and completed additional graduate-level coursework in environmental and natural-resource studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Following that, Jim spent 7 years working in various private-industry technical positions related to oil & gas exploration and production, geophysical consulting, and petroleum refining & marketing operations in the central United States, south Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Since 1990, Jim has been a consultant serving private-sector, non-profit, and government-agency clients primarily in the western and central United States including Alaska and Hawaii. Since founding Rare Earth Science in 2000, Jim has specialized in field studies, mineral evaluations, project management and regulatory compliance, and has prepared several hundred Mineral Assessment Reports for conservation easement and habitat protection projects in Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Jim is the co-author and editor of the revised edition of Mineral Development and Land Conservation: A Handbook for Conservation Professionals, published in 2011 by the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts (now known as Keep It Colorado).
Dawn Reeder
Biologist & Environmental ScientistDawn is a Biologist and Environmental Scientist based in western Colorado since 2000. After earning a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University in 1988, Dawn got her start in Alaska in research related to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. What was planned to be a summer of work in Alaska stretched into 11 years, with positions at geotechnical engineering and environmental consulting firms doing regulatory permitting, contaminated site assessment and cleanup, and a stint as an environmental coordinator for a construction company on the Alaska Pipeline.
Dawn relocated to western Colorado in 2000, and joined Rare Earth Science as a partner in 2001. Dawn completes NEPA analyses for salinity control projects and conducts rare plant surveys and threatened & endangered species inventories in the local area. She is the co-author of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Colorado Sagebrush: A Conservation Assessment and Strategy.
Dawn’s primary focus is conservation easement baseline documentation. Since 2003, Dawn has prepared baseline documentation for several hundred conservation easements on properties all over Colorado, as well as New Mexico and Utah. Dawn’s mission is to provide clear, accurate, and defensible documentation that not only substantiates the qualifications of a conservation easement pursuant to federal and state regulations, but also showcases the unique characteristics and conservation values of each property.
