This Just In...

Quattro Environmental, Inc. founder Peter McRae was recently featured in the March-April 2011 Member Spotlight of Erosion Control Magazine, the official journal of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA)! Read the PDF article below to learn more about Peter McRae and his experiences and successes in native revegetation and controlling soil erosion.

Member Spotlight: Peter McRae | 1.0MB Acrobat® PDF
Originally appeared in Erosion Control Magazine.

About Quattro Environmental, Inc.

Established in 1993, Quattro Environmental’s prime objective has been to research and develop state of the art revegetation technologies in tandem with a comprehensive line of environmentally sensitive soil building amendments and soil stabilizing binding agents.  Our goal is to establish sustainable native plant growth on drastically disturbed soils in harsh environments, primarily in the western U.S. where arid climate, sterile and/or mineral-imbalanced soils and erosion are significant challenges. Quattro Environmental has developed and implemented its proprietary “Growing Soil” and “Holding Soil” technologies resulting in the successful revegetation of difficult sites that have not responded to conventional, agronomical-based seeding practices.

Our clients include the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, State Departments of Transportation in every western state, U.S. Forest Service agencies responsible for revegetating logging roads and for ameliorating fire-damaged hinterland, the BLM, and mines both privately operated, abandoned, or “Super Fund” sites under the supervision of the EPA.  The “Growing Soil” and “Holding Soil” technologies have demonstrated success in a broad spectrum of geographic regions, altitudes, climates, and aspects throughout the western United States.

Over the last five years, the turf/landscaping and golf course industries have also benefited from Quattro Environmental’s proprietary technologies.  These specialized markets look to Quattro’s products for relief from high salt-impacted soils, less water usage and significantly lower fertilizer requirements.

Quattro Environmental is a co-founding principal of Native Plants Alliance (NPA), a network of scientists, project designers, seed suppliers and contractors whose common goal is the success of every single project they undertake.  Working as a team, NPA ensures that there are “no weak links” in the revegetation process, and that the best management practices for each unique site are being utilized.

Custom-Blended DownUnder LSM (“Living Soil Membrane”)

Quattro Environmental’s California-based headquarters directs the creation of the comprehensive array of “Growing Soil” and “Holding Soil” native revegetation and turf maintenance materials at a network of third-party manufacturing plants located across the USA. Quattro Environmental has long-standing joint venture relationships with multi-national corporations including Henkel Corporation (Germany) and American Colloid Company (Chicago, IL), as well as with long-standing family-owned operations in California and in the Pacific Northwest.  All seeding materials are supplied to exact specifications and with the highest quality control standards.

A complete listing and description of our “Growing Soil” and “Holding Soil” products can be found here at our website.

The NPA Alliance of Experts

Peter McRae founded Quattro Environmental, Inc. in 1993, and remains actively involved in all aspects of the business.  A native of New Zealand, Peter McRae has lived and worked in the United States since 1979.  With degrees in both Law and Business (Finance) from Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), Peter practiced law as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand prior to being awarded a Rotary Graduate Fellowship scholarship at University of British Columbia, Canada.

While attempting to crack the seemingly impossible task of re-establishing diversified native plant growth on drastically disturbed soils in harsh environments, the NPA team pioneered the dual “Growing Soil” and “Holding Soil” technologies as a strategy for attaining consistent success in harsh environments. “Growing Soil” recognizes that the re-establishment of stable soil humus is critical to meeting this challenge, for its high cation exchange capacity (CEC), oxygen content, and above average water holding capacity.  Humic acids effect physical, chemical and biological changes in soils and plant growth by their ability to slowly and continually release insoluble metal, oxides and hydroxides as plants require them.  Rather than merely growing plants per se, the objective is to fire up the natural nutrient cycling processes of the soil’s “biological engine” by setting the stage for the natural re-establishment of site-specific mycorrhizae fungi, soil bacteria and other beneficial soil organisms necessary to grow early seral stage plants – pioneer species that act as soil builders.

“Holding Soil” technology keeps both the soil and seeding materials anchored in place until the establishment of native vegetation. With Atlas SoilLok, we have the most environmentally clean heavy-duty soil binder on the international market today.

Quattro Environmental enjoys the infusion of expertise from an alliance of professionals within a broad scope of scientific fields pertaining to native revegetation. As a co-founder of Native Plants Alliance, Quattro regularly accesses the specialized skills, knowledge and experience of the following individuals to ensure the success of each unique project:

• Mir Seyedbagheri, Ph.D. Univ. of Idaho, Boise, ID                  
  Soil Analysis Interpretation
• John Throckmorton, Ph.D. L.A. Hearne 
  Microorganism Nutrition
• Comstock Seed, Gardnerville, NV                                          
  Seed Species Selection
• Wind River Seed, Manderson, WY                                        
  Seed Species Selection
• Stan Miller, Ph.D. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID            
  Slope Engineering
• Julie Etra, CPESC Western Botanical
  Native Revegetation Specialist
• AgSource Harris Agronomic Services, Lincoln, NE
  Soil Analysis and Nutrition

The following publications and industry leadership positions are specific to Peter McRae; the list of publications and industry involvement represented by the NPA team is beyond the scope of this introduction to the company.         

Publications

“Growing Soil” technical paper at www.NativePlantsAlliance.net

Technical Articles on this website:

1. “Fundamentally Flawed?”, January 2003
2. “Seeding Design Shortcomings: Growing Carrots in the Desert”, June 2003
3. “Current Shortcomings of Native Seeding Project Implementation”, January 2006

(Also published in Jan/Feb 2005, July/August 2006 and Sept/Oct 2006 issues of Land and Water magazine.)

Industry Involvement

• Founding Member, Native Plants Alliance
• Member, International Erosion Control Association since 1993
• Western Chapter - IECA President 2007 through 2009
• Western Chapter - IECA Board Member since 2003.
• Editor of Western Chapter-IECA Newsletter
• Presenter, Idaho DEQ “Erosion Control Workshop”, Boise, ID
• Presenter, IECA Conference “Native Revegetation Workshop”, Las Vegas, NV
• Presenter, Soil & Water Conservation Society, “Native Revegetation”, San Diego, CA
• Member, California Native Grasslands Association
• Member, High Altitude Revegetation Workshop, Fort Collins, CO

Representative List of Quattro Environmental Projects

Award-winning Native Seeding Projects

• Shell Rocky Mountain Production, Pinedale, WY:  BLM’s “2006 Best Management Practices” Award for Sage Grouse Habitat Restoration
• Mesa Falls Scenic Highway, Ashton, ID:  US Federal Highway Admin. Environmental Award, 2003
• Beartrack Mine, Salmon, ID: Idaho DEQ’s “Environmental Mine Manager of the Year” Award, 2000
• Lost Trail Pass, Salmon, ID:  ITD-US Federal Hwy. Admin. 1998 Successful re-do of a conventionally-seeded project failure; 1998

Mine Reclamation                                             

• Cripple Creek Mine, Victor, CO 
• Independence Mine, Elko, NV
• Atlantic City Mine, WY                                        
• Shell Oil-Standard Hill Mine, Mojave, CA
• Lucky Friday Mine, Wallace, ID                            
• McFerran Mine, Osburn, ID
• Black Pine Mine, SE ID                                       
• Princess Blue Ribbon, Fairfield, ID
• Barrick Mercur Mine, UT                                      

Native Plants Revegetation and Reclamation

• Horseshoe Bend Hill, Hwy 55, ID
• Hyundai+Kia Proving Ground, Mojave, CA
• White Sands Missile Range, Socorro, NM
• Kern River Pipeline, Kramer Junction, CA
• Flowery Trail Pass, Chewelah, WA
• Sycamore Canyon, San Diego, CA
• Warner Highway, Lakeview, OR
• Honda Proving Center, Mojave, CA
• Mt. Hood Ranger District, OR
• Glenbrook – Cave Rock, Lake Tahoe, NV
• Elk Creek, Medford, OR
• Beartooth Highway, Cooke City, MT
• Bogus Basin, Boise, ID
• Tamarack Resort, Donnelly, ID
• Warren Profile Gap, Warren, ID
• Pioneer Mountain, Dillon, MT
• Atlanta Road, Boise, ID
• Council Cuprum, Council, ID

Wetlands

• Kiley Ranch (Phase II), Sparks, NV
• Reno Airport Wetlands, Reno, NV
• Wingfield Springs, Sparks, NV

Golf Courses 

• The Los Angeles Country Club, Los Angeles, CA
• Sonoma GC, Sonoma, CA
• Crane Creek Country Club, Boise, ID
• Annandale GC, Pasadena, CA
• Querencia, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California
• Lahontan GC, Truckee, CA
• Redhawk I (Jones) GC, Sparks, NV
• Teton Reserve GC, Driggs, ID
• Redhawk II (Irwin) GC, Sparks, NV
• Kiley Ranch GC, Sparks, NV
• Osprey Meadows (Tamarack Resort), Donnelly, ID:  “Best New Daily Fee Golf Course over $75.00” Award, Golf Digest 2006.