Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

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Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable
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Rangelands

• 42 of continental U.S.
• 587 million acres non-federal
• Forest Service 75 million acres
• BLM 155 million acres
• Concern about the condition of natural resources
  in the 20th century.
• Adoption of the concept of sustainability as
  appropriate analysis paradigm.

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Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

• A stakeholders process for identifying a set of
  criteria and indicators (CI) for assessing
  sustainability of rangelands.
• The CI describe individual elements to assess
  and determine trends in resource conditions,
  management, economic benefits, and social values
  derived from rangelands.

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Benefits of the Work of SRR

• Provide a common framework for monitoring and
  assessing progress towards sustainable rangeland
  management.
• Expand the understanding of rangeland
  sustainability.
• Enhance quality of debate about rangeland
  management issues.

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Benefits of the Work of SRR

• Improved efficiencies
• Directing monitoring efforts
• Development of common data collection techniques
• Focusing research on developing methods to
  measure indicators

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Benefits of the Work of SRR

• Improve accountability to rangeland stakeholders
  and Congress
• Multi-level, coordinated data reporting
• Assess compliance with applicable laws
• Facilitate interagency coordination
• Facilitating planning and funding priorities
• Improve rangeland management to meet social,
  economic and ecological goals

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Sustainable Development

• Brundtland Commission (WCED) 1987
• development that meets the needs of the
  present generation without compromising the
  ability of future generations to meet their own
  needs.

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Sustainable Development

• Encompasses environmental and social issues, as
  well as economic activity.
• Ensuring human well-being while respecting
  ecosystem well-being and the earths
  environmental limits and capacities.

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International Background

• Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992
• Plan for achieving sustainable development in the
  21st century.
• 1993 International seminar on sustainable
  development of boreal and temperate forest in
  Montreal. (Montreal Process)
• 1995 Santiago Declaration 7 Criteria and 67
  Indicators temperate and boreal forests.
• 2002 Earth Summit in South Africa.

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U. S. Background

• Roundtable on Sustainable Forests (1998)
• Sustainable Minerals Roundtable (1999)
• 1999 First meeting on Sustainable Rangelands
• 2001 First meeting of the Sustainable
  Rangelands Roundtable

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Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

• Identify criteria and indicators for Sustainable
  Rangelands.
• Indicators are suitable for national reporting.
• Gain from other efforts
• Roundtable on Sustainable Forests
• Sustainable Minerals Roundtable
• Heinz, EPA, TNC, NRI, SDIC, others

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Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

• The group determines the outcomes.
• Open, Positive, Future Focused
• Dynamic
• Values and respects all opinions and
  contributions of members.

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SRR Vision for Rangelands

• We envision a future in which rangelands in the
  U.S. provide a desired mix of economic,
  ecological and social benefits to current and
  future generations.

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Vision for the SRR Process

• We envision a future where we have widely
  accepted criteria and indicators for monitoring
  and assessing the economic, social and ecological
  sustainability of rangelands.

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SRR Mission

• The Roundtable will identify indicators of
  sustainability based on social, economic, and
  ecological factors, to provide a framework for
  national assessments of rangelands and rangeland
  use.

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SRR Meetings

• Twelve Meetings
• Four meetings in 2001
• Five in 2002
• Three in 2003.

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SRR Meeting Sites, 2001 to 2003
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Workshops and Forums
2001
2002
2003
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SRR Success

• Time and effort of all individuals and
  organizations participating.
• Participating groups
• Federal, state and local agencies
• Representatives from 16 universities
• Non-governmental groups organizations
• Over 100 members of SRR

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Products of SRR

• Symposium and Proceedings at the Feb. 2002 SRM
  Annual Meeting in Kansas City, MO
• Workshop at ESA Meeting in Tucson, AZ in August
  2002
• Symposium/Workshop on Indicators at Feb. 2003 SRM
  Annual Meeting in Casper, Wyoming
• Report on Sustainable Rangelands in Spring, 2003

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SRR Five Criteria

• Maintenance of productive capacity on rangeland
  ecosystems.
• Maintenance of ecological health and diversity of
  rangelands.
• Conservation of soil and water resources on
  rangelands.

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SRR Criteria

• Maintenance and enhancement of multiple economic
  and social benefits to current and future
  generations.
• Legal, institutional and economic framework for
  rangeland conservation and sustainable management.

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SRR Timeline

• San Diego Meeting Review and freeze indicators.
• Fort Myers Jan. 14-16 First draft of report
  chapters ready for editing.
• SRM Workshop Feb. 3-5
• Feb. 15 Chapters ready for SRR internal review.

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SRR Timeline

• March 1 SRR internal review completed.
  Consider and integrate feedback.
• Albuquerque March 18-19 Revised chapters
  completed. Submit to external reviewers.
• April 11 Receive external reviews and
  incorporate changes.

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SRR Timeline

• Friday, May 2, 2003 Deadline for final
  chapters.
• May 5-9 Create Executive Summary (Briefing
  Document). To printer on May 9.
• May SRR Briefing in Washington, D.C.
• May June - Submit chapters to journal and
  complete technical edits.

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Purpose of Ninth SRR Meeting

• The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable reviews all
  indicators
• Finalize external reviewers for report
• Finalize report outline and agree on writing
  assignments
• Continue work on data sets for indicators