SummitWest has been serving the private sector in California since 2010. Our projects and service offerings have been diverse, supporting developers, home owners, industry, ranches, colleges and homeowner’s associations. We have performed endangered species surveys, habitat assessments, nesting bird surveys, worker education and awareness training and construction monitoring. We provide memo reports and full reports depending on client needs and have a 100% acceptance rate with local authorities and agencies.

2025. Chula Vista, CA

SummitWest was contracted by ROVE Engineering to perform nesting bird and raptor surveys for a 9.27 acre parcel in Chula Vista. The Project was part of citywide vegetation removal effort. All potential biological resources observed were mapped and photographed, and results presented in a Memo Report that was accepted in 2025. Recommendations for resource avoidance were also provided.

2016, 2017. Plaster City, CA

SummitWest was retained by Aspen Environmental to provide botanical surveys in support of the United States Gypsum (USG) Company Plaster City Plant biological surveys. Surveys were conducted in April of 2016 and March of 2017. Chez Brungraber of SummitWest was part of a survey team and deliverables included photographs of rare plants, GIS files, a full species list for the project site, and any other information that was helpful to the preparation of the biological resources technical report.

2019. San Diego, CA

SummitWest was retained by consulting firm Merkle & Associates (Merkle) to provide permitted employees to assist with weekly quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) protocol surveys for the Warner Springs Ranch Resort Specific Plan Amendment Project, located in San Diego County for a period of 5‐12 weeks. Surveys were conducted according to protocol and all data collected was presented to Merkle at the end of the surveys. SummitWest scheduled its own staff as-needed to appropriately survey assigned parcels.

2016. Menifee, CA

SummitWest was hired by Placeworks, Inc. to survey approximately 80 acres at Mt. San Jacinto College District’s proposed Wildomar Campus for the federally endangered coastal California gnatcatcher (CAGN). During the season of 2016, SummitWest biologists conducted both passive (listening/visual) and active (playback) surveys across all habitats, including marginal areas. The surveys documented three pairs and one individual CAGN. A full report was submitted and approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

2015. Tejon Ranch, CA

SummitWest was retained by BonTerra Psomas to perform rare plant surveys via plant transects for the proposed Centennial Specific Plan, which refers to a large-scale master-planned community proposed by Tejon Ranch Company. The project would span 11,676.1 acres and is located near the intersection of State Route 138 (SR-138) and Interstate 5 (I-5), just south of the Kern County line and near Quail Lake and aimed to create a self-contained community with up to 19,333 residential units, 10.1 million square feet of commercial space, and supporting infrastructure. SummitWest conducted surveys in spring of 2015, recording any rare plant species found on a paper map and GPS device. Photographs, GPS tracklogs and a full species compendium were also submitted to BonTerra Psomas.

2016. Otay, CA

SummitWest was hired by Helix Environmental Planning to conduct protocol presence/absence surveys for the Quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) at the proposed Otay Ranch Village 14 project in Proctor Valley, part of a 23,000-acre master-planned community. The project included plans for 1,119 homes, commercial space, and over 700 acres of preserve land, consistent with the MSCP. SummitWest made five weekly site visits across the 1,599-acre Survey Area, updated host plant mapping, and submitted weekly field notes to Helix.

2017. Menifee, CA

SummitWest was retained by Placeworks, Inc. to conduct a focused survey to determine the presence or absence of listed fairy shrimp species and to conduct a habitat assessment of the parcel, mapping all suitable pools and habitat, for a proposed Menifee Valley Campus development project located in Menifee, Riverside County. The project site included two parcel numbers which covered 50.28 acres and 30.44 acres. This was not a protocol level survey as the start of the season was missed for the beginning of pool sampling. The negative results for listed fairy shrimp were not to be considered as reference for development or permitting, but gave an idea of the habitat on-site. In all, 25 seasonally ponded features were mapped, with several making up ponded complexes. Upon completion of wet season sampling, a dry season sampling of all ponded features was also conducted. Four ponded features contained the non-listed fairy shrimp, Branchinecta lindahli.