Practitioner’s Guide to the Integrated Ecological Framework (2013) / Chapter Skim
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13 STEP 1: BUILD AND STRENGTHEN COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS AND VISION Purpose and Anticipated Outcomes The purpose of Step 1 is to build a team and vision for conservation planning in the state or region and set up the team to integrate that vision with transportation planning. This step can be initiated by the conservation community and professionals or by resource, planning, or transportation agency staff.
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14 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Thus, agencies will be able to implement the 2008 USACE-EPA mitigation rule (see box on page 70) and, in implementing a watershed approach, achieve the follow ing advantages identified by USACE districts and EPA regions: -- Address complex environmental relationships holistically.
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15 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Implementation Substeps and Technical Considerations An overview of Step 1 substeps and technical considerations follows. Step 1: Build and strengthen collaborative partnerships and vision Implementation Substeps 1a.
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16 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK for various resources, but the planning region provides bounds on where resource and development considerations will be analyzed. The planning region is often identified on the basis of driving factors, such as a region of jurisdiction, an ecoregion, a watershed, or the region of cumulative effects to the largest resource of concern or the relevant ecosystem.
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17 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Refer to existing data sets for evaluation of wetlands. Helpful data sets include National Wetlands Inventory (NWI)
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18 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK to engage the responsible organizations in the REF partnership. MPOs or the state DOT may be willing to lead since the REF can be used in the transportation planning process.
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19 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK mitigation can be more quickly implemented and permits and approvals may be streamlined. Finally, opportunities for ecosystem-level conservation and/or mitigation that are available now may no longer be available when a project is implemented.
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20 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK that might be affected and make a judgment about the significance of the impact and options for mitigation. This approach is common in project assessments, and such functionality is supported through tools, such as Florida's online system for environmental evaluation in planning (Efficient Transportation Decision Making system, or ETDM)
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21 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step 1e Explore funding and long-term management options to support conservation and restoration actions. Federal laws and requirements provide the most common impetus for conservation and restoration investments by state DOTs.
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22 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK some programs, if a nonprofit, private, or local organization is willing to provide cash, materials, or land to a project, that contribution could serve as part of the required non-Federal match" (4)
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23 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK According to Eco-Logical, state infrastructure banks (SIBs) and Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEEs)
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24 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Implementation Substeps and Technical Considerations An overview of Step 2 substeps and technical considerations follows. Step 2: Characterize resource status; integrate conservation, natural resource, watershed, and species recovery and state wildlife action plans Implementation Substeps 2a.
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25 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Do the different conservation plans developed in the planning region agree on the conservation priority areas and goals? How will any disagreement be resolved?
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26 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK The plans and plan documents should be reviewed to determine fit of scale, precision, purpose, source, and so on, and which resources are included. The team should make an initial determination as to which plans and/or resource maps to include in the REF and which resources each plan can represent.
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27 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Land use, land cover, and impervious cover (www.mrlc.gov/) ; and • Local watershed restoration plans completed by state water quality agencies or local watershed organizations, including municipal water supply watershed plans.
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28 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Impaired (Section 303(d) –listed)
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29 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) is an organization committed to efficient and effective government through prudent adoption of geospatial information technologies.
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30 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Although estimates of actual historic distribution and loss may be required or desirable, this is difficult and expensive for most resources of concern. Some states have created historic vegetation distribution maps, and approaches exist for mapping historic wetland distribution.
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31 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK The process of populating this database can take some time. It can proceed in parallel with other tasks, but the sooner it is started the more likely the information will be in place when needed (in particular for Step 3 and later)
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32 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK To understand how well existing plans represent specific resources, the team creates a matrix that cross-references resources to named plan products. If specific resource content is not documented in existing plans (e.g., locations identified only as habitat conservation areas)
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33 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK collected and rigorously analyzed. The objective of the REF is to provide a better and more precise assessment at the planning phase than has traditionally occurred, while not complicating such analysis with impracticable requirements.
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34 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Data Availability and Quality More often than ever before, quality data are available and put to good use in resource assessment. Although data may never be perfect, more and better data are available every year.
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35 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK conservation strategy for the planning region that identifies conservation priorities and opportunities and evaluates stressors and opportunities for mitigation and restoration. The data in the database will provide the attributes needed to create visual presentations of particular themes of interest.
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36 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK geospatial overlay and associated goals and priorities. The group may choose to discuss technical considerations such as the following: • What are the quantitative retention goals for each resource to ensure preservation of an agreed on portion of the priority resources?
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37 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step 2g Record methods, concurrence, and rationales based on stakeholder input. This step records how the priorities for addressing the conservation/preservation or restoration needs and goals identified for the area were chosen.
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38 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK [best management practices] to provide benefits to the watershed.
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39 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK future development. Land use data should be segregated into actual current land use, allow able or planned land use (e.g., from local government comprehensive plans/zoning or public land management plans)
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40 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK conflict between all development and all resources/priority conservation areas. This assumption is reasonable at this stage to understand potential conflicts and needs.
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41 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • What unprotected conservation priorities can be protected through project mitigation? • What areas should be targeted for avoidance of impacts because of the presence of irreplaceable resources (i.e., endemic species or habitats)
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42 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 4b. Establish individual resource conservation requirements (e.g., minimum viable habitat sizes and connectivity requirements)
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43 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step 4a Work collaboratively with stakeholders to weight the relative importance of resource types (including consideration of resource retention or restoration goals) as needed to help establish the significance of impacts and importance for mitigating action.
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44 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK effects; and so on. (Optional)
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45 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK on those in Step 3 by conducting a more complete mapping of stressors in the scenarios (existing land use, management, and infrastructure combined with planned future land use and other infrastructure, and climate change effects)
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46 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK c. Pest and disease spread (e.g., pine bark beetle infestation in the Rocky Mountain region)
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47 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK For all areas/resources, a report should be generated that quantifies the current distribution and the expected future distribution, to quantify impacts. Maps of locations of expected area/resource loss can identify where impacts would occur and which scenario areas (e.g., land use, infrastructure, management)
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48 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK or out-of-kind (e.g., by helping secure a very high-priority conservation area supporting other resource objectives of equal or higher priority)
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49 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Implementation Substeps and Technical Considerations An overview of the implementation substeps and technical considerations follows. Step 5: Establish and prioritize ecological actions Implementation Substeps 5a.
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50 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • What is the most effective way to direct and conduct field validation of identified mitigation areas? How can field data be captured and provided to natural resource data maintainers/providers so that it can be used in future assessments?
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51 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step5c To increase confidence in the mitigation component of the plan, field-validate the presence and condition of target resources for attention at mitigation sites, and reassess the ability of sites to provide necessary mitigation. Revise the mitigation assessment as needed to identify a validated set of locations to provide mitigation.
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52 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Proposed Process for Creating the Priority Wetlands Map Jimmy Kagan, Oregon State University A comprehensive digital map of wetlands is needed. The goal is to ensure that all wetlands greater than 5 acres in size are represented.
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53 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK If conservation or watershed plans and identifications of conservation and restoration priorities already exist, the intent is to integrate them, rather than redo them. For a single ecoregion in Oregon, five comprehensive biodiversity or conservation strategies had been developed independently.
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54 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK desired, a 10-digit HUC can be used; these are smaller and provide regulators more assurance that mitigation is inkind and in-place. In almost every major basin in the country, one or more watersheds contain no synthesis, portfolio, catalog, or other priority areas.
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55 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step 5e Decide on and create a map of areas to conserve, manage, protect, or restore; include documentation of the resources and the quantities to be retained/restored in each area, and the agency and mechanisms for conducting the mitigation. In this step, the REF database is used to inform stakeholder decisions and create a map of areas to conserve, manage, protect, or restore.
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56 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Anticipated outcomes of Step 6 include the following: • Improvement and integration of the mitigation sequence at a site level through avoidance, using a metric that provides a systematized and structured scenario analysis that leads into minimization, which is aided by the same metric and provides the basis for outcome-based performance standards, which sets the stage for compensation, which is defined by the same metric and calculates the debit and credit totals associated with the project impacts and mitigation outcomes, respectively; • Accelerated implementation and improved mitigation results; • Implementation tools such as advance mitigation, banks, programmatic permitting, and ESA Section 7 consultation; • Off-site and out-of-kind mitigation where appropriate, since equivalency of value can be determined across locations and resources; • Better informed adaptive management and updates of the cumulative effects analyses; • Balanced gains and losses of ecological functions, benefits, and values associated with categories of transportation improvements or specific project-related impacts; and • The means to track progress toward regional ecosystem goals and objectives (assum ing site-level ecological metrics are correlated to the landscape-level tools used to define the REF)
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57 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Technical Considerations • How will debits and credits be calculated? Is credit stacking allowed?
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58 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK can be different from state to state. However, they are based primarily on the existence of drivers that force an issue into consideration in the planning process (14)
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59 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK and focus of transportation investment in different areas. An awareness of these cycles can help the team forecast regulatory needs and appropriate metrics.
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60 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK undertaken. For aquatic resources, service areas are almost always hydrologic.
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61 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK complex measures provide the basis for long-term monitoring and management of a region. Condition-based measures can be applicable in certain cases for transportation projects, though they present important challenges that must be considered before agreeing to use them in permitting or in restoration.
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62 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK and minimization measures and in supporting the identification of sites for compensation. In general, observed data are not recommended for use unless a trusted and continuous base of data is available to provide reference conditions for comparison.
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63 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK structures and functions of a natural system must be understood before any value system can be placed on top of it (30)
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64 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK example, a protocol for a condition-based measure may include random sampling for macroinvertebrates. Ideally, longitudinal data collection will have occurred to provide the baseline and level of variation.
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65 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK clarify that no single credit is satisfying multiple regulations. In other words, credits must be shown not to "double-dip" or count twice for a liability.
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66 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK concern over aquatic species requires functions that support various life stages of the species, such as foraging and rearing, spawning, and connectivity for migration. These functions can then be defined through specific attributes such as pool or riffle types, substrate, and adjacent bank characteristics.
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67 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK highly dependent on canopy cover cannot co-exist with a function that is dependent on exposed ground or grasslands. As attributes are identified, their relative contribution to the function starts to emerge; the next step is to score all attributes for the function.
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68 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK site score is subtracted from the future-conditions site score. If the resultant number is negative, a debit has been generated; if positive, the project results in uplift.
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69 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK oversee development of mitigation sites and road construction contractors build the highway infrastructure. • Improved ecosystem outcomes.
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70 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step 6f Negotiate regulatory assurance for credit. Credits for wetlands have most often been allocated on a per acre basis.
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71 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK mitigation or ecosystem marketplace context. By working at the most basic level of environmental measurements, functional measures provide a system that can "stack" or combine multiple credit types or resources and, at the same time, ensure that credits are used only as approved and allowed.
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72 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 7d. Choose a monitoring strategy for mitigation sites, based on practical measures, ideally using the same metrics as those used for impact assessment, site selection, and credit development.
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73 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK to ensure the sum of the actions included is meeting the expectations of the signatories and participants. The advantages of using programmatic agreements rest primarily on the streamlining allowed once the agreement is in place.
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74 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership, and the general needs and welfare of the people. The Section 404(b)
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75 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK of finding an appropriate conservation owner. DOTs' investments in acquisition and initial restora tion may mesh with other agency and organizations' long-term stewardship and land management missions.
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76 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK achieving conservation goals. An ecosystem approach can measure conservation status and progress at wider scales; the ecoregional measures used in that approach may rely on focal species and indicators of ecosystem health, such as degree of invasive species and management, including natural processes (e.g., grazing or fire)
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77 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK performance standards.
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78 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 1. The nature and extent of threats being addressed by the conservation effort are described, and how the conservation effort reduces the threats is described.
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79 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK important about a trend or status in conservation. In some cases precision is less than desirable but the indicator remains useful (47)
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80 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Identify and support the most vulnerable and threatened conservation areas within the ecoregion. • Monitor, measure, and communicate conservation status.
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81 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Protected and managed area status. This measure employs the Gap Analysis Program (GAP)
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82 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Intactness -- land cover status. Ecoregions are important base units for measuring conservation priorities and goals as well as for measuring conservation status.
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83 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Incorporation of performance measures and programmatic agreements, as appropriate, into permitting and consultation documents; • Integration of programmatic cumulative effects analysis into environmental documents; • Incorporation of tools and approaches into a monitoring and adaptive management strategy to ensure positive project outcomes; • Accurate record keeping and tracking of all commitments by transportation agency in project delivery; • Information updated from construction and operation into REF; and • Measurements of performance success in project delivery. Step 8 interaction with the REF (described in other step guidance on the cumulative effects analysis)
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84 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Technical Considerations • What tools are available that could help document goals and priorities identified in the REF that need to be considered in project delivery? • What tools and methods can be used to track how projects contributed to and/or improved the REF priorities and goals?
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85 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK achieving goals, review the weighting values of resources in REF, evaluate responses to land use and infrastructure)
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86 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK Step 9c Update the implementation status of areas in the REF to review those areas that are contributing to REF goals and priorities, and determine if additional conservation/ protection action is required. As conservation and restoration actions occur, the implementation status of these areas should be reviewed to ensure they are contributing to REF goals and priorities as anticipated and to determine if additional conservation, restoration, or protective action is required in these or other areas.
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87 PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK planning and transportation planning. Further, it lays the foundation for implementation of a watershed approach to Clean Water Act (CWA)
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