During his career with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gary served in
multiple leadership roles and was instrumental in the development of
several Endangered Species Act policies establishing himself as one of the agency’s top authorities on endangered species issues.

As the former Deputy Chief of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Division, Gary is recognized for his expertise with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and related issues. He developed and coauthored the agency’s national enforcement policy addressing ESA violations linked to habitat modification. As such, Gary has extensive experience determining the threshold of an ESA Section 9 “taking” violation resulting from habitat modification and/or degradation. Gary has extensive expert witness experience in this area.

Gary also has significant experience with federal wildlife protection laws including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. His expertise includes the implementation of federal eagle take permitting regulations; as well as, addressing unpermitted eagle mortalities resulting from wind energy projects and powerline electrocution.

Gary’s leadership within USFWS also includes nearly three years in Texas as the senior ESA supervisor. Gary oversaw federal biologists throughout Texas and supervised species listing and recovery efforts including the establishment of conservation banks. This included overseeing Section 7 consultations, Section 10 Habitat Conservation Plans and mitigation policies.

Since leaving federal service, Gary has represented dozens of linear pipeline, powerline and highway projects, frequently negotiating with USFWS to keep projects on schedule and saving millions in unnecessary mitigation costs. He has also successfully served as an ESA expert witness defending projects against plaintiffs seeking to enjoin projects. He has given testimony
in federal and state court and before state legislatures and Congressional committees

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With Dawson & Associates, Gary advises in such areas as:

• USFWS-issued Biological Opinions

• Section 7 consultations

• Due diligence environmental compliance reviews

• Finding and facilitating suitable mitigation offsets, and

• Conducting ESA compliance assessments and developing Disturbance Avoidance Plans allowing clients to avoid the cost of creating Habitat Conservation Plans.