Wildlife & Land Management | Northwest & Northern Plains

Your land, working better
for wildlife and you.

We visit your property, build a science-based management plan, then coordinate and oversee the contractors, cattle operators, and specialists needed to put it into action, from invasive species control to grazing system design.

Request a Property Visit How It Works
CustomManagement Plans
GISMapped Properties
7Core Services
Northwest & Northern PlainsService Region

Most landowners have a vision for their property. We turn it into a plan: a detailed, science-based roadmap covering grazing, invasive species, timber, prescribed fire, irrigation, wildlife habitat, and virtual fencing. Then we stay involved to ensure the right people execute it correctly and on schedule.

Our Process

Three phases.
One continuous relationship.

We don't hand you a plan and walk away. We're your point of contact from the first site visit through the final year of implementation and into the next planning cycle.

Phase 1
01

Property Assessment

We visit your property, walk every major land cover type, review your KML or GIS data, identify invasive species, assess grazing and timber history, evaluate soil health, and document wildlife sign. This on-the-ground knowledge becomes the foundation of your plan.

Phase 2
02

Custom Management Plan

A professionally prepared, GIS-mapped document covering habitat objectives, grazing system design, invasive species protocols, timber and prescribed fire recommendations, irrigated field management, virtual fence planning, monitoring schedules, and a clear year-by-year timeline.

Phase 3
03

Coordination & Oversight

We coordinate the contractors, aerial applicators, cattle operators, and timber professionals needed to implement the plan, then stay involved to ensure the work is done correctly. Grazing leases, virtual fence collar setup, herbicide applications, prescribed burns, seedings: we oversee it all.

What We Do

Integrated land management
services across the Northwest and Northern Plains.

Every service connects back to one goal: land that is healthier, more productive, and better habitat, for wildlife, livestock, and the people who own it.

Wildlife Habitat Management Plans

GIS-mapped, science-based management plans tailored to your property and target species, including mule deer, elk, sage grouse, or other wildlife of concern across the region.

  • KML boundary & land cover mapping
  • Species-specific habitat recommendations
  • Woody draw & riparian corridor design
  • Implementation timeline

Grazing System Design & Oversight

We design practical, low-labor rotational grazing systems matched to your property's forage production, shape, and management capacity, and we work with your cattle operators to ensure the system is followed correctly.

  • Paddock design from KML boundary data
  • Conservative stocking rate prescription
  • Cattle operator coordination & oversight
  • Annual monitoring & plan adjustment

Virtual Fence Setup & Management

We configure Halter, Nofence, or Gallagher eShepherd systems for your property, programming all KML exclosure boundaries, paddock rotation schedules, and hard-stop exclusion zones from day one.

  • Platform selection & procurement guidance
  • KML boundary import & configuration
  • Collar training & herd introduction
  • Scheduled rotation programming

Invasive Species Control Coordination

We survey, GPS-map, and coordinate treatment of invasive plants using the most current herbicide protocols for western rangeland, including coordination of licensed aerial drone applicators.

  • Property-wide GPS infestation survey
  • Species-specific herbicide prescription
  • Aerial drone application coordination
  • Multi-year treatment scheduling

Property Assessment & Consultation

Whether you're purchasing a property, planning a conservation easement, or simply trying to understand what you have, we provide an objective, expert on-the-ground assessment with written findings.

  • Habitat condition assessment
  • Invasive species identification
  • Grazing history & soil health evaluation
  • Written findings & priority recommendations

Irrigated Land & Field Management

Field-specific planting and management recommendations for your irrigated acres, whether served by center pivots, wheel lines, hand lines, gravity flood, or and other systems, converting appropriate fields to wildlife cover crops, native perennials, or standing winter food plots.

  • Field-by-field species recommendation
  • Wildlife cover crop rotation design
  • Native perennial establishment planning
  • Seeding calendar & contractor coordination

Timber Management & Prescribed Fire

We develop timber management recommendations and prescribed fire plans that improve forest health, reduce catastrophic wildfire risk, and enhance wildlife habitat structure for elk, deer, and other species.

  • Timber stand assessment & harvest planning
  • Prescribed burn prescription development
  • Contractor & agency coordination
  • Post-treatment seeding & monitoring
About

The person behind the plan.

Land management done right requires deep scientific knowledge, practical field experience, and the trust of the people who own the land.

Dan Morina
Dan Morina conducting a property assessment with a landowner

Conducting a property assessment with a landowner in the Missoula Valley

Dan Morina

Founder & Principal, Resource Management Specialists, LLC.

Dan Morina is a wildlife biologist and land management professional based in Missoula, Montana. He brings a rare combination of rigorous academic training and hands-on field experience to every property he works on, from designing science-based management plans to personally overseeing the contractors, cattle operators, and specialists who carry them out.

Dan holds graduate degrees in wildlife science from Mississippi State University and the University of Montana, where he is completing his Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Biology as a Boone & Crockett Fellow. His doctoral research focuses on the movement, habitat selection, and population dynamics of elk in the North Dakota Badlands, and his published work spans ungulate behavior, harvest regulation, and habitat management. Before returning to school, Dan spent nearly a decade in commercial construction and production management, overseeing large-scale projects across the Carolinas and Virginia. That background shapes how he approaches every engagement: organized, accountable, and focused on getting the right people doing the right work on schedule.

He holds a Wildland Firefighter Type 2 certification, an FAA Commercial Remote Pilot Certificate, and a Part 137 Agricultural Drone Certificate, giving him the credentials to coordinate prescribed fire, aerial herbicide application, and drone-based survey work on client properties. He is also a certified measurer for both Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young, and an active member of The Wildlife Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Boone & Crockett Club, and Montana Wild Sheep Foundation.

He founded Resource Management Specialists, LLC. to bridge the gap between what the science says and what actually gets done on the ground, working directly with private landowners across the Northwest and Northern Plains to build plans that are rigorous, practical, and built around the individual goals of each property owner.

Who We Work With

Built for landowners who
care about what they own.

Our clients share a common thread: they want their land to be in better shape than when they got it. The use varies, but the commitment to stewardship doesn't.

🏔️

Private Ranch & Landowners

Whether you run cattle, lease grazing, or hold the land as a long-term investment, we help you build a management foundation that improves soil health, forage productivity, and land value over a multi-year horizon.

🌿

Conservation-Minded Landowners

If improving habitat, building soil carbon, and restoring native plant communities are your priorities, we design the plan around those outcomes, with monitoring protocols that document your progress over time.

🦌

Hunting & Wildlife Property Owners

From mule deer and elk to sage grouse and upland birds. We design habitat plans around the species that matter to you, using grazing systems, cover crop rotations, and draw management that maximize wildlife carrying capacity.

What You Receive

A plan built for your land.
Not a template.

Every plan is built from scratch using your property's actual KML boundary data, confirmed invasive species locations, and your specific goals, not a generic checklist.

1

GIS-Mapped Property Overview

Every acreage figure comes from actual KML boundary data. Paddock sizes, exclosure areas, irrigated field acreages, timber stands, and any state or federal inholdings are all mapped precisely before recommendations are written.

2

Invasive Species Control Program

Species-specific herbicide protocols, application timing, aerial drone treatment coordination through licensed applicators, and a multi-year calendar, tailored to your property's confirmed and potential infestation profile.

3

Grazing System & Virtual Fence Design

From a simple deferred rotation to a virtual fence-assisted planned system, designed around your property's shape, forage production, and management capacity. We then work directly with your cattle operators to implement it correctly.

4

Timber, Fire & Field Management

Forest stand recommendations, prescribed burn opportunities, and field-specific cover crop or native planting plans, all referenced to your KML-mapped land cover units and sequenced into the implementation timeline.

5

Year-by-Year Implementation Timeline

A clear action schedule with NRCS EQIP cost-share opportunities identified. Programs like Prescribed Grazing (Practice 528), Invasive Species Management (Practice 315), and Wildlife Habitat (Practice 645) can offset 40–60% of implementation costs.

Service Area

Northwest & Northern Plains.

Based in Missoula, Montana, we serve private landowners across the Northwest and Northern Plains.

NorthwestNorthern Plains

Contact us to discuss your property; we evaluate each project individually.

Technical Expertise

Built on rangeland science.
Grounded in field experience.

🦌

Mule Deer & Elk Habitat

Thermal cover, fawning areas, and movement corridor design for the western region's primary big game species.

🌾

Rangeland Ecology

Mixed-grass prairie management, native grass restoration, litter management, and soil health building on semi-arid rangeland.

🐄

Grazing Systems

Deferred rotation to adaptive to adaptive multi-paddock, matched to your operation's management capacity and forage production.

📡

Virtual Fence Technology

Halter, Nofence, and eShepherd setup, KML boundary programming, and rotation scheduling for Montana and regional rangeland.

🌳

Timber & Prescribed Fire

Forest health assessments, harvest planning, burn prescriptions, and post-treatment habitat enhancement.

💧

Riparian & Draw Habitat

Woody draw restoration, wetland exclusion design, willow recruitment, and livestock impact mitigation in riparian zones.

🌿

Invasive Species

Cheatgrass, knapweed, houndstongue, and leafy spurge control, including herbicide selection, timing, and aerial application coordination.

📋

NRCS & Cost-Share Programs

EQIP program navigation covering Practices 315, 528, and 645, to offset implementation costs for qualifying landowners.

"The most valuable thing we can do for a piece of land is understand it deeply before we touch it, and keep learning from it every year after."
Dan Morina, Resource Management Specialists, LLC.
Get in Touch

Start with a conversation about your property.

Whether you have 200 acres or 10,000, a clear vision or just a starting point, reach out. We'll talk through what your land needs and what a management plan engagement looks like for your situation.

Resource Management Specialists
NameDan Morina
CompanyResource Management Specialists, LLC.
Phone(406) 880-3203
Email[email protected]
BasedMissoula, Montana
RegionNorthwest & Northern Plains

Request a Consultation

We'll follow up within one business day.