As sessing Wet land Ser vices and Values Ex panding Wet land As sess ment Pro ce dures: Linking In di ces of Wet land Func tion with Ser vices and Values (ERDC/EL TR-00-17) IS SUE: The eval u a tion of Sec tion 404 per mit ap plica tions un der the Reg u la tory Pro gram of the U.S. Army Corps of En gi neers of ten re quires con sid eration of wet land func tions and the value of those func tions to peo ple. The Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Ap proach pro vides a method for as sess ing the functional ca pac ity of a tar get wet land, but no sim ple, objec tive method ex ists for in cor po rat ing in for ma tion on eco nomic val ues into per mit de ci sions. RE SEARCH: Wet land func tions (e.g., sur face water stor age, nu tri ent and con tam i nant re moval, wildlife hab i tat sup port) pro vide use ful ser vices to so ciety (e.g., flood dam age avoid ance, wa ter qual ity improve ment, aes thetic and rec re ational ser vices). These ser vices, in turn, have value that can be expressed in ei ther mon e tary or rel a tive terms. This research is an at tempt to de velop in di ces of wet land ser vices and val ues that can be used to sup ple ment an as sess ment of wet land func tions. SUM MARY: This re port de scribes a gen eral approach, us ing readily avail able pub lic and pri vate da ta bases, to ex pand in di ces of wet land func tion to re flect hu man ser vices and val ues. It is in tended as a first step in the de vel op ment of a prac ti cal tool for as sess ing wet land trades based on ac cepted economic prin ci ples.

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Many approaches and specific procedures have been developed to assess wetland function for regulatory, planning, management, and education purposes. General approaches include descriptive narratives based on best professional judgment, application of classification systems (e.g., USFWS classification), sampling of specific structural or functional criteria (e.g., bird survey), and the application of wetland assessment procedures (e.g., Habitat Evaluation Procedure, Hydrogeomorphic Approach, and Index of Biological Integrity). The task of identifying the best approach can be difficult depending upon the complexity of the study and whether there are multiple objectives. This paper identifies the various considerations in choosing an approach and outlines steps to selecting a wetland assessment procedure. This process is illustrated with an example of a large scale project, involving the assessment of several existing wetland areas and proposed wetland restoration. The example demonstrates that in many cases no one procedure can meet all study objectives. It is recommended that the overall objectives be clearly stated at the beginning and that a variety of procedures be considered. Several approaches, including a combination of models from different procedures, may be needed to meet all objectives throughout the different stages of study.

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