2012 National FIA-User-Group Meeting

Baltimore, Maryland

March 7-8, 2012

Broad Scale Monitoring and Assessment Efforts on Public and Private Lands

 

Photograph courtesy of NRCS

Tony Tooke, USDA Forest ServiceDirector, Ecosystem Management Coordination

Discussion Outline

Background Current Situation Developing a Strategy for Improvements Collaborative Opportunities and Next Steps

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System Improvement Effort

The Forest Service is using a collaborative approach to improve broad and national scale inventory, monitoring, and assessment (IM&A) activities across a gradient of landscapes.

The improved system should be integrated, aligned, effective, and efficient in supporting priority business requirements of the Forest Service and partners.

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IM&A System Improvement: Why Now?

Lack of a comprehensive system for managing IM&A activities

Environmental threats and evolving “business requirements”

Increasing need for collaboration and transparency.

Available resources are not likely to increase.

There is a need to be more proactive in assessing and managing risks and impacts.

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Desired Condition of the IM&A System

IM&A information, technology and/or processes:– Use the best available science (scientific credibility).– Are accessible and accurate.– Support an all-lands approach.– Are collaborative, transparent, timely, and useful.– Are based on national standards and processes

developed with partners.– Are adaptive and responsive to changing conditions and

business requirements.

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Broad Scope of the IM&A System

Address priority business requirements such as:– New Planning Rule (broad-scale monitoring)

– Ecosystem / watershed health and sustainability

– Adapting to a changing climate – Climate Change Scorecard

– Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program

– National & broad scale FS and partner assessments

– Sustainable forest management using Montreal Process indicators

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Monitoring in Proposed Land Management Planning Rule

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1982 Rule Preferred AlternativeUnit monitoring and evaluation required

Unit and broad scale monitoring required

Some courts said MIS monitoring applied to plans and projects.

Monitoring requirements apply to plan, not projects.

Focuses on measuring actual outputs vs. expected

Requires monitoring of certain ecological and social/economic conditions.

36 CFR Part 219 National Forest System Land Management Planning

Framework in Proposed Land Management Planning Rule

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Collaboration is required throughout all phases of the framework

Approach Define priority business requirements of the

Forest Service and those shared with partners.

Identify the associated core management questions.

Improve the IM&A system to focus on delivering the information that answers those core management questions.

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What we’ve learned We are successfully using collaborative learning

approaches to identify core monitoring questions.

We are encouraged by the degree of common information needs across a diverse range of social, economic, and ecological conditions.

The journey, taken together, is as important as the destination.

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IM&A System Improvement Strategy The Journey

Where we’ve been and where we are:

Sensing questionnaire and leadership interviews

Roundtable: Internal and external partners

Steering Committee and Core Team

Case Studies

Briefing and feedback sessions

IM&A Strategy

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Draft IM&A StrategyThree Goals

1. INCLUDE all lands and all partners

2. Provide CREDIBLE information.

3. Effectively RESPOND and ADAPT.

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IM&A Case Studies

Purpose: To help identify system-wide IM&A improvements, implementation actions, and “early wins.”

Initial Focus Areas: Critical loads of air pollution

Aquatics inventory and monitoring

Vegetation status and trends

Carbon assessment and management

Land management plan (LMP) broad-scale monitoring 14

Working with Partnersand Stakeholders

Photos courtesy of NRCS and the Alliance of Aquatic Resource

Monitoring, Dickinson College 15

Next Steps IM&A Strategy review and refinement Implementation Actions

– High priority– Early wins

Measuring progress

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Collaboration with partners will continue as we move through implementation

Questions

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