Planning for Ecological Sustainability in Region 8

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Methods and Tools to Integrate Biodiversity into
Land Use Planning
Pat Comer Chief Terrestrial Ecologist

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Greater Yellowstone Area
Local Partner Bridger-Teton National
Forest Objective Support forest plan revision
and implementation
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Sustainability Vision
Economic
Ecological
Social
Clean Water
Biodiversity
Clean Air
Adapted from Hagan Whitman (2006) Biodiversity
Indicators for Sustainable Forestry. Journal of
Forestry, June 2006
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Criteria and Indicators for Sustainability B-T NF
Indicators Recreational Opportunities (road
access and roadless areas) Scenic
Integrity Educational Opportunities
Indicators Forest Productivity Carbon
Sequestration Livestock Grazing Energy
Production Commercial Recreation Water
Development
Indicators Ecosystem Diversity Species
Diversity Watershed Integrity (stream channel
function, soil productivity, water quality,
etc.) Air Quality
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Common Steps in Planning

• WHAT IS THE PLANNING AREA?

• WHICH INDICATORS REQUIRE CONSIDERATION?

• WHERE ARE THEY?

• WHAT ARE REFERENCE CONDITIONS?

• WHAT ARE CURRENT CONDITIONS?

• WHAT ARE THE TRENDS AMONG THOSE CONDITIONS?

• WHAT ARE DESIRED CONDITIONS?

• WHAT STRATEGIES WILL MOVE US TOWARD DESIRED
  CONDITIONS?

• WHAT ARE EXPECTED OUTCOMES FROM IMPLEMENTING
  STRATEGIES?

• HOW WILL WE MONITOR AND EVALUATE OUR
  IMPLEMENTATION?

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Conservation ElementsFocus for Ecological
Sustainability

• Species Diversity
• Species of Concern
• ESA proposed, candidates, petitioned
• G1-G3 (T1-T3) NatureServe status
• May include distinct populations
• Species of Interest
• S1-S2 NatureServe status
• Other T/E not captured above
• UAFWS birds of concern
• Regional/local concern
• Other public interest requiring plan components
• Ecosystem Diversity
• Representative ecosystem types
• Vegetation types and structural stages

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• Building Element Information

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Building Element Information
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Modeling LandscapeCondition

• Combines land use, road type, built
  infrastructure, etc.
• Model weights effects, adds distance effect
• Specified to element-groups

Greater Yellowstone Area
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Relative Compatibility with Land Uses
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Land Use Scenarios
1) Land Use Type
2) Special Designations
3) Regulation
4) Zoning/ Policy Type
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Scenario Evaluation

• Land Use Conflict Map

• Red areas indicate elements with incompatible
  land use intent.
• Darker shades indicate richness of elements in
  conflict

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Vista Modules Interoperability
Economic Analysis Reporting
Conservation Scenario Optimization Tools MARXAN,
SPOT
Visualization Tools (e.g., Community
Viz)
Vista Framework Decision Support System
Predictive Range Mapping e.g., MAXEnt, GARP
Agency Regulatory Monitoring Tools
Land-use System Tools Transportation Sylviculture
Agriculture
Ecological Dynamic Simulation Tools e.g.,
Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool (VDDT)
Knowledge Engine Tools EMDS
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Stating Desired Conditions

• Establish measurable goals for representation
• Users may define multiple, potentially competing
  goal sets representing different values, or
  uncertainty
• A single land-use scenario can be evaluated
  against multiple goal sets
• Goals based on of total area, of occurrences,
  absolute amount of habitat, or absolute of
  occurrences

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Analysis at Multiple Spatial Scales

• Regional-scale (e.g., Representation throughout
  the Greater Yellowstone area)

• National Forest Plan (e.g., Relative emphasis
  within the Bridger-Teton N.F.)

• Project Implementation (e.g., multiple
  occurrences summarized by HUC 6 units of the
  Greys River watershed)

• Individual Occurrence patch (e.g., one element of
  conservation concern/interest)

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Generating Regional Allocation Scenarios using
Spatial Optimization
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Data Expert Knowledge Inputs
Intermediate Processes Products
Outputs
Vista 2.0 Functions
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What Are We Aiming For?

• Common Planning Framework

• Common Library of Spatial Data and Ecological
  Knowledge

• Functional Inter-operating Decision Support Tools