Transcript Landscape Conservation and Restoration Strategic action plan

USDA Forest Service
Southwestern Region
LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION AND
RESTORATION STRATEGIC
ACTION PLAN
Overview
 Why Landscapes?
 Other Landscape Efforts
 Strategic Action Plan Summary
 Region-wide Landscape Identification
Example
 Working with Partners
 Next Steps
What’s a Landscape?
 A definable area with similar ecological,
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social and cultural characteristics
Encompass multiple land ownerships
Watersheds are often building blocks
No set acreage limit - must be defined by
analysis and working with partners and
stakeholders
Large enough to make significant
ecological, social, and economic impacts
Why Landscape Conservation?
• Uncharacteristic Fires
throughout the West
• Need to increase scale to
make a difference
• Secretary’s Vision
• Restore Forest Landscapes
• Water
• Climate Change
• Sustainable Rural
Economies
Other Landscape Efforts
 Agency & Conservation Organization
Initiatives
 Dept. of Interior -Landscape Conservation Cooperatives
 BLM-Rapid Ecoregional Assessments
 State Assessments (AZ, NM, OK, TX)-State Wildlife Action Plans;
State Forest Resources Assessment and Strategy
 R3 Forests (present and future)
 CFLRA projects (Four Forest Restoration Initiative; Southwest
Jemez)
 Watershed Condition Framework: Forest-wide watershed
condition assessments, Priority Watershed and Jobs Stabilization
 ILAP (Integrated Landscape Assessment Project): R3 & PNW
USDI-Landscape Conservation
Cooperatives
BLM Rapid Ecoregional
Assessments
Strategic Action Plan Summary
Goal
 Conserve and restore landscapes improve
resilience, sustainability, and diversity of
these systems by:
 Identifying and prioritizing landscapes.
 Developing the resources, partnerships, and tools
needed.
 Developing a concise set of performance metrics.
Guiding Principles
 A Landscape Framework
 Relationship Between Forest Plans and
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Landscape Work
Forests Identify and Characterize Landscapes
Forests Prioritize Landscapes
Balancing Landscape Work and Stewardship
Responsibilities
Funding
Objectives & Performance
Measures
 Identify and Prioritize Landscapes
 Plan
 Implement
 Monitor
 Develop 1 or 2 performance measures for
each objective
Identify and Prioritize
Landscapes
 Each forest will prioritize their identified
landscapes
 values placed on the landscape
 threats to those values
 degree of collaboration and local support to
restore the landscape
 Economics
Strategies
 Describe how the Region will support forests
and grasslands in planning, implementing
and monitoring landscape work.
Build Internal and External Understanding and
Trust
2. Build Internal Capacity
3. Expand Partnerships
4. Support Sustainable Restoration-Based
Economies
1.
Regional Landscape
Identification Example
Values at Risk and
Stressors-Threats
Four themes for analyzing
landscapes
 Region-wide: fourth code HUC’s; sub-basins
 Characterize landscapes based on 4 themes:
 Fire Regime and Condition Class (FRCC)
 Municipal Watersheds-Source Water Supply
 Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (species
richness)
Map Generation
 Map demonstrates the process of identifying
broad landscapes and establishing the values
at risks
 Broad-scale Analysis
 The analysis unit was 4th code watersheds
 Forests will use finer scale data sets and
stakeholders to identify and prioritize
landscapes
Methodology Overview
 Four Themes
 Assembling and Prepare Data Layers
 Reclassification
 Weighted Overlay
 Aggregation to Watersheds
Weighted Overlay
 This is a subjective process– The data layers
were weighted by the landscape workgroup
by discussing the relative importance of the 4
themes.
Theme
Fire Regime
Condition Class
Weight
48%
Source Watershed
24%
WUI
Species Richness
(New Mexico)
16%
12%
Aggregation
 Weighted overlay was aggregated to 4th level
HUCs.
 The relative ranking of the aggregated HUCs
is based on the proportion (percent) of the
watershed with high scores.
Working with Partners
 Many partners are thinking about landscapes
 How do we start bringing those efforts together?
 Communicate how we’re thinking about
landscapes
 Greater ecosystem benefits across all lands
 Align our work and leverage resources
 This can’t happen without all of us working
together
Next Steps
 Forests will be identifying and prioritizing
landscapes
 Presentations at other partner meetings
 Convene Regional Steering Committee
 Convene partners to coordinate landscape priorities
 Communicating & engaging public about smoke as it
relates to landscape conservation and restoration
 Explore potential for private infrastructure to support
landscape restoration
 Assessment of data/information resource capacity to
support landscape conservation and restoration