Interdisciplinary science for land managers: Lessons learned in the context of public land management
Abstract
Public land is common around the world, where land management decisions are often made based on public policy, input from the public and stakeholders, and assessments from land managers. This complex set of interactions often increases the disconnect between science and management. In the U.S., public land management actions must undergo the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. When it is determined that a significant impact may occur, the NEPA process includes a) developing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the impact of different management alternatives and b) formally receiving public input about those alternatives. Our interdisciplinary research team developed a novel social-ecological impact assessment and applied it to a 7100 km2 Bureau of Land Management land use action proposal in southwestern Idaho. Through our research we discovered several keys to sharing science in the context of public land decisions. The first key is developing relationships with managers as early as possible. Our team met with federal managers and stakeholders at the outset of our project to establish trust that enabled and supported collaborative work. The second key is researchers need to be responsive to the science needs of the NEPA process. Although our team included a broad range of scientific expertise, the specific NEPA process in Idaho determined the science needs, which led us to develop a novel social-ecological impact assessment. The third key is to communicate science across each EIS management alternative. Our social-ecological impact assessment was framed through the three management alternatives that were presented to the public - allowing for managers to easily incorporate the science we shared into the EIS documentation. Through coordination with public land managers, scientists can increase the likelihood their research is incorporated into the decisions made on public lands.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFMPA43B2225N
- Keywords:
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- 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGEDE: 1807 Climate impacts;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCESDE: 6344 System operation and management;
- POLICY SCIENCES