Kevin Thomas, a Principal Consultant at Davey Resource Group, has over 25 years of experience in Waters of the US (WOTUS) jurisdictional determinations, permitting, and mitigation plan development for the mining industry. His expertise includes being a Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS), a Licensed Soil Scientist (LSS) in multiple states, and a Certified Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS). Kevin’s early work on WOTUS was with Mountaintop Removal (MTR) Coal Mining, where Judge Haden’s ruling halted all MTR and Valley Fills in 1999-2000. He has since served as the Vice Chair of the Soil Science Society of America, on the Council of Soil Examiners, and as a former Adjunct Professor in the Sustainable Development Department at Appalachian State University.

Kevin builds and leads multi-disciplinary teams at Davey Resource Group to perform natural resource assessments, impacts, and design of full Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) or Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) plans for natural resource projects that include Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance (section 404 permitting with the US Army Corps of Engineers [USACE]) and CWA Section 401 state water quality permitting. Additionally, his focus is on designing and permitting habitat enhancements for federal and state-listed special-status species.

Kevin comes from a family with a farming and textile background and lives by the motto, "If you can't grow it, you have to mine it!"