WHO WE ARE

Urbani Fisheries is a design and build firm located in Bozeman, MT, specializing in the creation and restoration of stream, river, wetland and lake ecosystems. Involved in fisheries enhancement for over 35 years. Our lead, Joe Urbani, is a pioneer in bringing recreational resource property and fisheries management to the private and public sectors. Using his experience, he has successfully integrated specialized professionals into his fisheries projects to combine their diverse expertise and knowledge into a results-oriented team. Our team maintains an efficient, cost-effective and common sense approach throughout the life of a project while also embracing a strong commitment to the environment.​

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​​Joseph D. Urbani
President/Fisheries Biologist

B.Sc in Fisheries Biology from Colorado State University  

Joseph Urbani is a professional fisheries biologist with over 35 years of experience designing and implementing fish habitat improvement and water resource restoration projects in the public and private sectors. He has been heavily involved in spring creek and freestone stream construction and restoration projects since 1983. Joe specializes in the successful enhancement of streams and rivers, incorporating bed manipulation techniques that consistently yield high-quality fisheries.

​Over the past 34 years, Joe has been involved in the construction and restoration of lakes and ponds, creating his own standards for construction based on the objective of creating biologically productive aquatic habitat systems.

His extensive experience includes work with other fishery consultants and positions with the U.S. Forest Service and state fish and wildlife agencies in New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Montana, and Alaska. Although skilled in fishery evaluations, his current focus concerns property management for optimal fish and wildlife habitat, and coordinating habitat improvement efforts among state and federal agencies, and professional and community groups. Joe has given presentations at numerous professional workshops and symposiums (i.e. the 13th International Salmonid Habitat Enhancement Workshop). He is also a member of the American Fisheries Society and Trout Unlimited.

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​Martin J. McHugh, J.D.
Environmental Consultant

​Martin McHugh has over thirty years of experience in all aspects of environmental protection and natural resource policy at the state and national levels. Following 25 years of public service working with a variety of agencies, nonprofits, and industries, Mr. McHugh founded McHugh Environmental Associates LLC (MEA) - a consulting firm focused on pragmatic solutions for conservation, commerce, and sustainability. MEA works with a range of partners on restoration, mitigation, land acquisition, climate resilience, and sustainability projects. In 2012, Mr. McHugh assisted the State of Louisiana with the Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the Deepwater Horizon spill. He then went on to represent The Conservation Fund - a national non-profit chartered under the dual mission of protecting our nation's land and water resources while promoting sustainable economic development. Recently, Mr. McHugh administered The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Grant Program – a $100 million fund focused on reducing community vulnerability to climate change by restoring fish and wildlife habitats.
 
 Mr. McHugh’s environmental career began in New Jersey as in-house counsel to the Department of Environmental Protection, where he handled air, water, and land use enforcement matters and represented parks and wildlife programs. As a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General, he litigated and conducted complex negotiations for major oil spills, contaminated site cleanups, and multi-million dollar penalty actions. Following the 1990 Exxon oil spill in the NY/NJ Harbor, Mr. McHugh established the Office of Natural Resource Damages, one of the first state programs in the country to restore wildlife, habitat and other public resources injured by spills and contaminated sites. Mr. McHugh went on to serve as New Jersey’s Director of Fish & Wildlife and was responsible for the state fisheries, wildlife, and habitat conservation programs, as well as the management of over 350,000 acres of public land.
 
Mr. McHugh received his B.A. in Economics and Environmental Studies from Rutgers University and his J.D. from Seton Hall School of Law. For ten years he taught as an adjunct with Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and was a full-time professor with Kean University’s Center for Sustainability Studies. He has presented courses on environmental law, natural resource policy, and sustainability and has lectured extensively on related topics at conferences and symposia. Mr. McHugh also served on the Board of Trustees for both the Natural Resource Education Foundation of New Jersey and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. 

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Colter Urbani 
Senior Biologist / Habitat Specialist

BS Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Montana State University
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Colter brings a strong academic focus in greater ecosystem dynamics to our projects. His interest in biology, and his upbringing as a Montana fly fisherman informs his passion for conservation and rehabilitation of unique ecosystems around the country.

Colter has acquired over 9 years’ experience in project management and oversight while implementing projects throughout the intermountain west and along the east coast. His areas of expertise center on aquatic habitat/fisheries enhancement, hydraulic engineering and modeling, natural channel design, topographical surveying, surface, and groundwater modeling, stability analysis of in-stream structures, and aquatic/wetland ecology,

​His professional experience includes hydrologic and geomorphic assessments for stream and river restoration, incipient motion, depth of scouring, shear stress, sediment transport analyses. and:bio-stabilization methods. Additionally, Colter has designed and directed in-stream construction projects utilizing bed stabilization techniques in several states.

Successfully completed tasks include complex boulder structures in rivers with highly fluctuating flows, incorporating natural fish ladders at historic pond systems and dams to allow passage and access to spawning reaches, as well as complete channel relocation, He has launched numerous floating treatment wetlands to control high phosphorus levels and has designed, constructed, and enhanced several dozens pond, lake, and conveyance stream systems from coast to coast.

Colter has worked to maintain regulations and follow protocols for construction scheduling, permit compliance, and implementation associated with endangered species. He has experience with species such as the wood turtle, freshwater mussels, and blue-spotted sunfish habitat design near Lake Hopatcong, Andover, New Jersey.

Colter sees nature to be the greatest inventor and creator of stable structures observed in aquatic environments and is an active scholar and practitioner in the natural design. Colter will pursue his MS in the field of Biomimicry to further advance the company's goals of using, "Nature as Model." When not knee-deep in wetlands, streams, and ponds, Colter is usually tinkering with his small scale terrarium models, fly fishing, or spending time with his two daughters in Bozeman, Montana.​

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Daniel L. McGuire
​Aquatic Ecologist

B.Sc. in Biology from Colorado State University and M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Montana State University

Dan has 18 years of experience as an aquatic entomologist and fisheries biologist. He specializes in the use of macroinvertebrates to diagnose environmental conditions and factors limiting fisheries. He has conducted fishery, water quality, and stream/riparian habitat investigations throughout the Rocky Mountain region. For the past 10 years, he has worked extensively in the restoration and management of ponds and riparian zones. Previously he was a biologist for Northern States Power Company and several consulting firms.

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Dylan Urbani 
​Aquatic Biologist

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​Emily Masuda

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