James M. Welch, MA, RPA
Director of Operations - West Region
Principal Investigator
Jim Welch is a native of Florida and received both his bachelor's degree in anthropology (1978) and master's degree in public archaeology (1983) from the University of South Florida in Tampa. He has over 30 years of practical experience in environmental and cultural resource management.
Over the years, Jim has held positions with federal and state agencies, universities, and various private firms, including ownership and management of a cultural resource management consulting firm for over a decade. He has managed and/or directly worked on well over a thousand different projects of varying size and complexity in the states of Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, California, Mississippi, and Florida.
Jim’s extensive and varied background allows him to bring a diversity of knowledge and experience to bear on CRA projects. He has expertise in the execution and management of archaeological surveys/inventories, site testing, construction monitoring, data recovery/site excavation; preparation of technical reports as well as discovery plans, resource management plans, data recovery plans, mitigative action plans, and programmatic agreements; and other activities such as Native American consultation and paleontology. He is also experienced in the preparation of EA and EIS documents and the overall NEPA process. Proving highly beneficial to CRA clients and their projects, Jim possesses an in-depth understanding of many federal and state legislation and regulations.
In addition to a comprehensive knowledge of cultural resource management activities, he is adept in the management of many types of projects, supervision and coordination of subconsultants, supervision and training of employees, client relations, federal/state/tribal liaison activities, marketing and business development, federal and state contracting procedures, and proposal and bid preparation. Along with numerous technical and professional reports he has prepared over the years, Jim has authored published articles, presented professional papers, and provided public lectures to both adult and school-age audiences. He has been certified by and is a member in good standing of the Register of Professional Archaeologists, the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists, Utah Professional Archaeological Council, and other organizations.
Jim joined CRA in 2009 and is the Director of Operations and Principal Investigator of the newest office in Sheridan, Wyoming. He and his wife Diane have four daughters and nine grandchildren variously living in Salt Lake City, Missoula, Kansas City, and Moses Lake.