Landscape Architecture

Jon True is co-owner and Principal Biologist/Restoration Ecologist of True Nature. Jon leads the True Nature environmental consulting team, which provides a wide range of environmental services for a broad diversity of clients and projects. We specialize in performing biological surveys and preparing documents to support project planning, design, regulatory permitting, implementation and monitoring. Jon has over 12 years of experience conducting and managing biological investigations in central and southern California ecosystems. He is experienced in various aspects of environmental consulting including research and literature review, field surveys, data acquisition and management, planning and compliance, impact assessment and analysis, and project management. He has a broad understanding of biological resources and environmental laws and regulations including NEPA, CEQA, FESA, CWA, and the California Fish and Game Code. 

 

Throughout his career, Jon has conducted biological studies in various habitats including coastal sage scrub, riparian, coastal dune, chaparral, oak woodland, desert, island (Santa Cruz Island), vernal pool, estuary, fresh and salt water marshes, and grasslands. He has an extensive knowledge of southern California native flora and fauna, with a focus on special status species. Jon has been involved in a number of habitat restoration projects, including project planning, implementation, maintenance, monitoring, and invasive weed removal. He draws on his background in biology and restoration ecology, as well as hands-on experience, to support restoration projects that emphasize incorporating elements of sustainability, education, soil and water quality, and high quality native habitat for wildlife including sensitive species. Jon has authored and contributed to a number of technical documents including biological resources assessments for CEQA review, jurisdictional delineation reports, botanical survey reports, wildlife habitat assessment and survey reports, mitigation/habitat restoration plans, and mitigation monitoring reports. He has developed natural resource management plans and has managed habitat restoration projects.

 

Expertise

• Habitat restoration/mitigation planning,implementation, and monitoring

• Floristic Surveys, Vegetation Classification and Mapping, Special Status Plant Surveys

• Jurisdictional Delineations of Waters including Wetlands

• Biological Resources Assessments for CEQA review

• Regulatory permitting, including USACE, CDFW, RWQCB, USFWS

 

Certifications and Training

• Santa Barbara County and City of Goleta Qualified Biologist

• Rare Plant Survey Protocols (co-sponsored by CNPS and CDFW), 2014

• Online Resources for Botanists, Biologists, and Ecologists (CNPS/CDFW), 2014

• Fully trained California Rapid Assessment Methodology (CRAM) practitioner, 2013

• Combined Vegetation Rapid Assessment/RelevéMethod (CNPS/CDFG), 2012

• Vegetation Mapping Workshop (CNPS, CDFG,and AIS), 2011

• University of California Cooperative Extension,  “Watershed U. – Ventura River”, 2010

• Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program, Jurisdictional Delineation of Waters of th U.S., including Wetlands on the Californi Coast: Legal and Ecological Protocols fo Diverse and Changing Landscapes, 2009

 

Education

University of California, Santa Barbara

B.A., Environmental Studies (2001)

 

University of California, Riverside,

Land Use and Environmental Planning

Certificate Program, (in progress)