Agenda

Webinar instructions will be emailed 24-48 business hours before the date of the webinar.
Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before start time.


Thursday, January 8, 2026
8:30 am – 4:30 pm CST


Agenda:
Presented by John Giordanengo, MS

Restoring Natural Areas in Urban & Rural Landscapes

  • Ecosystem structure and functions
  • What is ecological restoration?
  • Benefits of ecological restoration in urban & rural landscapes

Site Evaluation, Regulatory Compliance, & Stakeholder Engagement

  • Permitting and regulatory compliance (overview, with focus on waters of the US)
  • Regulatory planning process (schedule, and critical path planning)
  • Evaluating a project site (desktop and field analysis)
  • Developing and balancing restoration goals
  • Stakeholder engagement & Multi-Objective Decision Analysis (MODA)
  • Developing design objectives

Ecological Processes Related to Restoration

  • Understanding disturbance
  • Ecosystem processes (succession, managing disturbance)
  • Benefits of healthy riparian areas
  • River hydrology & hydroseres
  • Soils (testing, soil chemistry thresholds, and implications for design)
  • Soil erosion processes
  • Restoration planning process
  • Design sequence for ecological restoration

Restoration Design Principles

  • Integration of vegetation, soils, hydrology, and soil surface protection
  • Common soil amendments
  • Hydrology (hydrologic point of reference)
  • Revegetation design strategy (seed mix & plant palette development)
  • Erosion Control (erosion thresholds, common treatments, site closure)
  • Bioengineering (as time allows)

Implementing Ecological Restoration

  • Materials sourcing processes & guidelines (beyond getting the right rocks)
  • Addressing wildlife mitigation/protection during construction (the hypocritic oath of restoration)
  • The golden rule of construction (minimize material import/export/movement)
  • Construction process & construction oversight (critical path planning)
  • Implementation monitoring (value engineering and as-builts)

Adaptive Management

  • Understanding and mitigating risks
  • Long-term project management cycle
  • Common adaptive management practices (pitfalls & hurdles)
  • Monitoring criteria and techniques

Restoration Project Case Studies

  • Post-fire restoration (plant community responses to High Park Fire restoration, Ft. Collins, CO)
  • Post-flood restoration (Big Thompson River, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
  • Mineland restoration in Glitter Gulch (Boulder, Colorado)
  • Natural habitat buffer zone (disaster in the making)

 

Webinar Instructions 
 
All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited. 

Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher. 

Webinars are presented via GoToWebinar, an easy-to-use application that can be run on most systems and tablets. Instructions and login information will be provided in an email sent close to the date of the webinar. It is highly recommended that you download, install and test the application before the webinar begins by clicking on the link in the email. 

GoToWebinar App requirements:  
Windows 10 or higher, macOS 11 or higher, Linux, Google Chrome OS 

Web Browser:  
Google Chrome (most recent 3 versions) 
Microsoft Edge (most recent 3 versions) 

Internet connection: 1 Mbps or better 

Hardware:  2GB of RAM (minimum), 4GB or more of RAM (recommended) 

For more information, visit the Support section at www.gotowebinar.com 

Credits

Engineers
7.0 PDHs

Architects
7.0 HSW CE Hours

AIA - American Institute of Architects
7.0 HSW LUs

Landscape Architects
7.0 HSW CE Hours

LACES - Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System
7.0 HSW PDHs

ICC - International Code Council
0.7 CEUs (Sitework)

APA/AICP - American Planning Association/American Institute of Certified Planners
7.0 CM

 

Continuing Education Information

This webinar is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 7.0 PDHs for professional engineers, 7.0 HSW continuing education hours for licensed architects, and 7.0 HSW continuing education hours for landscape architects in all states that allow this learning method. Please refer to specific state rules to determine eligibility.

HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education sponsor for engineers in Florida (Provider License No: CEA362), Indiana (License No. CE21700059), Maryland, and New Jersey (Approval No. 24GP00049300). HalfMoon Education is deemed an approved continuing education sponsor for New York engineers, architects and landscape architects via its registration with the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System (AIA/CES) and the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA/CES). Other states do not preapprove continuing education providers or courses.

The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System has approved this course for 7.0 HSW LUs (Sponsor No. J885). Only full participation is reportable to the AIA/CES.

The Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System has approved this course for 7.0 HSW PDHs. Only full participation is reportable to the LA CES.

The International Code Council has approved this event for .7 CEUs in the specialty area of Sitework (Preferred Provider No. 1232).

HalfMoon Education is an approved CM Provider with the American Planning Association. This course is registered for CM | 7 for Certified Planners.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the webinar for those who attend the entire course and score a minimum 80% on the quiz that follows the course (multiple attempts allowed).

*On-Demand Credits*

The preceding credit information only applies to the live presentation. This course in an on-demand format is not pre-approved by any licensing boards and may not qualify for the same credits; please consult your licensing board(s) to ensure that a structured, asynchronous learning format is appropriate. The following pre-approvals may be available for the on-demand format upon request:

7.0 HSW LUs (AIA)
7.0 HSW PDHs (LA CES)

Speakers

John Giordanengo, MS

Founder and Principal Restoration Economist of Economic Restoration Services

Mr. Giordanengo is the founder and principal restoration ecologist of AloTerra Restoration Services. He has 33 years of professional and academic experience in ecology, ecological restoration, business, and economics; 23 years of natural resource project management experience; 10 years of natural resource research experience; over 200 publications, oral presentations, articles and technical papers. He has founded and managed several non-profit organizations, and facilitated several complex stakeholder engagement processes with federal, state, local, non-profit, and private entities. Mr. Giordanengo earned his M.S. degree in Rangeland Ecosystem Science from Colorado State University and his B.S. degree from San Diego State University.

LinkedIn

AIA Info

AIA Provider Statement: 

HalfMoon Education Inc. is a registered provider of AIA-approved continuing education under Provider Number J885. All registered AIA/CES Providers must comply with the AIA Standards for Continuing Education Programs. Any questions or concerns about this provider of learning program may be sent to AIA/CES (cesupport@aia.org or (800) AIA 3837, Option 3). 

This learning program is registered with AIA/CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product. 

AIA continuing education credit has been reviewed and approved by AIA/CES. Learners must complete the entire learning program to receive continuing education credit. AIA continuing education Learning Units earned upon completion of this course will be reported to AIA/CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-AIA members are available upon request. 

Course Title:  Ecological Restoration Design, Construction, and Maintenance in Urban and Rural Landscapes

Delivery Method: Live Online 

Course Description: This seven-hour course examines the science and practice of ecological restoration in both urban and rural environments. Instruction covers ecosystem processes, site evaluation, restoration planning and design, and adaptive management. Emphasis is placed on integrating vegetation, soils, and hydrology to restore ecological function while meeting regulatory requirements and long-term performance goals.

Learning Objectives: 

Learning Objective 1: Learners will be able to describe the structure and function of ecosystems and explain how restoration supports environmental resilience in both urban and rural settings.

Learning Objective 2: Learners will be able to evaluate project sites, interpret soil and hydrologic data, and identify key regulatory and permitting considerations for restoration projects.

Learning Objective 3: Learners will be able to design restoration plans that integrate vegetation, soil stabilization, hydrology, and erosion control techniques to reestablish ecological processes.

Learning Objective 4: Learners will be able to apply adaptive management principles, including monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and maintenance practices, to ensure long-term restoration success.

LUs: 7.0

LU Type: LU|HSWs 

Prerequisites:  None

Advance Preparation: None 

Program Level: Intermediate 

Course Expiration Date:  10/21/2028

Complaint Resolution Policy: 

Complaints regarding this course can be emailed to fchapman@halfmoonseminars.org or by calling (715) 835-5900. A HalfMoon Education representative will respond within 72 hours to resolve the complaint, which will include, but not limited to, access to another CE activity at no or reduced cost or a full or partial refund. Each instance will be resolved on a case-by-case situation.