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31.1 Introduction The purpose of this report is to document the methods and results of the project, Integration of National-Level Geospatial Ecological Tools and Data. This project was carried out under the Transportation Research Boardâs (TRBâs) second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), within the Capacity focus area. There are four chapters to this report. Chapter 1 presents the background and purpose of the project. Chapter 2 discusses the methods used to carry out the project and major outcomes of each task, and Chapter 3 describes the products. Chapter 4 lists the conclusions and insights for the future. References follow. 1.2 SHRP 2 Capacity Program The charge from Congress to SHRP 2 Capacity is to develop approaches for systematically integrating environmental, eco- nomic, and community requirements into the analysis, plan- ning, and design of new highway capacity. The scope of the SHRP 2 Capacity program extends from the early stages of the transportation planning process, when many potential alter- natives are being considered, through project development. 1.3 Prior Research Transportation practitioners are experts at planning, devel- oping, designing, and building infrastructure projects that will address transportation needs. However, as stewards of the environment and the public interest, they must also con- sider the potential impacts of transportation on the environ- ment. To do this well, partnerships are formed with agencies whose primary mission is to protect these resources. While this seems straightforward and simple, anyone who has been part of a complex environmental study understands the bal- ancing act and trade-offs that result when trying to address a transportation need and protect resources. The challenges are further compounded by discrete agency missions, the lack of accessible data, and insufficient interagency collaboration. Substantial strides have been made in addressing the process- and policy-related challenges that impede integrated trans- portation and ecological decision making. The development of Eco-Logical: An Ecosystem Approach to Developing Infra- structure Projects (Eco-Logical) initiated the necessary part- nership (Bosworth et al. 2006). The nine signatory agencies of Eco-Logical recognized the mutual benefit of an ecosystem approach to infrastructure planning and development for both the environment and the transportation process. These partners worked to develop and articulate their â. . . shared vision of an enhanced and sustainable natural environment, combined with the view that necessary infrastructure can be developed in ways that are more sensitive to terrestrial and aquatic habitatsâ (Bosworth et al. 2006). The effort resulted in a conceptual framework to integrate plans across agencies and endorsed ecosystem-based mitigation. While this conceptual framework had broad support at the executive level, implementation of the concept in practice was slow. To help advance the framework to practical implementa- tion, SHRP 2 launched two projects: Integration of Conserva- tion, Highway Planning, and Environmental Permitting Using an Outcome-Based Ecosystem Approach; and Development of an Ecological Assessment Process for Enhancements to High- way Capacity (TRB 2012 and 2013). The first project identified and addressed barriers to implementing the Eco-Logical approach. The second project developed a crediting approach to support ecosystem-based mitigation and examined sup- porting data and tools. Together, these projects resulted in the Integrated Ecological Framework (IEF), a nine-step process designed to bring about efficient, integrated consultation on natural resources to inform transportation and mitigation decisions. The nine steps in the IEF are supported by tools, case studies, and implementation guidance. In addition to the work sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, federal agencies have been making their C H a P t e R 1 Background and Purpose
4individual strides by implementing the Eco-Logical approach. These initiatives complement the extensive work being done through nongovernmental organizations and at the state and regional level to do a better job of establishing the policy, pro- cess, tools, and information needed to support the integra- tion of transportation and ecological decision making. 1.4 Project Purpose The SHRP 2 work and the pilot projects meant to âfield-testâ the IEF contributed to a November 2011 summit bringing together transportation and resource agencies to determine the next steps for advancing the Eco-Logical approach to transpor- tation decision making. The clear need that arose through this collaborative discussion was a national geographic information system (GIS) database and screening tool that would leverage the work being done by individual agencies, bring together national data sets, and allow states and regions to use this infor- mation as a complement to their own geospatial tools. This need informed the objective for this project. The primary objective of this project is to develop an inte- grated, geospatial ecological screening tool for early transpor- tation planning that produces results that can carry through and inform the environmental review process. This tool will advance both Eco-Logical and the IEF by providing the trans- portation community with the means to identify and analyze environmental impacts at a regional scale. The name of the tool created through this project is Eco-Plan.
