Natural Resources Planning, Project Management, and Facilitation 

Larissa has served as project manager for dozens of National Park Service and Boulder County Parks and Open Space planning efforts, as well as projects around the Intermountain West for SE Group. At the National Park Service, she oversaw all aspects of general management plan (GMP) and other plans for large, natural resource-focused park units. Larissa was responsible for content and quality of numerous multi-year plans that required compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental laws. She provided clear processes for handling sensitive or controversial issues such as climate change, facility development, and issues such as wilderness proposals and impacts from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. 

In this role, Larissa facilitated complex meetings, conducted briefings, supervised team members’ quality and production, and managed budgets and project schedules. She also developed and managed public involvement processes, from public open houses to thousands of public comments. On some projects, Larissa also served as the team’s natural resource specialist, providing subject-matter expertise on NEPA, climate change, ecology, wilderness, and threatened and endangered species compliance.

Some examples of Larissa's project management and planning experience include:

• Berlaimont Estates Access Route Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

• Gulf Islands National Seashore GMP / EIS

• Denali Park Road Vehicle Management Plan / EIS

• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve GMP / Environmental Assessment (EA)

• Gates of the Arctic GMP / Wilderness Stewardship Plan / EA

• Canaveral National Seashore GMP / EIS

Larissa served as the liaison between the NPS Denver Service Center - Planning Division and the NPS Climate Change Response Program on national efforts to provide consistency in how climate change adaptation is incorporated into NPS planning efforts. She co-authored two national guidance documents, one on NEPA and climate change, and another on incorporating climate change into GMPs. 

While working as a natural resource planner for Boulder County Parks and Open Space, Larissa served as the lead planner for three-party land trade with the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and as the lead planner for the Boulder County - US Forest Service Hessie Trailhead project. She was a project co-lead for an Army Corps of Engineers Section 206 stream restoration project, in which she served as the liaison with Corps of Engineers Omaha District, Boulder County Commissioners, and Colorado Congressional delegation. Larissa served as the lead planner and liaison with the Denver Water Board and County Land Use and Transportation Departments for the Gross Dam Reservoir Expansion Project. She also developed and began implementing policies to link the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan to property management plans, which represented a new planning approach for the department.