Prioritizing science efforts to inform decision making on public lands

Abstract

Public land management agencies in the US are committed to using science‐informed decision making, but there has been little research on the types and topics of science that managers need most to inform their decisions. We used the National Environmental Policy Act to identify four types of science information needed for making decisions relevant to public lands: (1) data on resources of concern, (2) scientific studies relevant to potential effects of proposed actions, (3) methods for quantifying potential effects of proposed actions, and (4) effective mitigation measures. We then used this framework to analyze 70 Environmental Assessments completed by the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado. Commonly proposed actions were oil and gas development, livestock grazing, land transactions, and recreation. Commonly analyzed resources included terrestrial wildlife, protected birds, vegetation, and soils. Focusing research efforts on the intersection of these resources and actions, and on developing and evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation measures to protect these resources, could strengthen the science foundation for public lands decision making.

Accuracy, accessibility, and institutional capacity shape the utility of habitat models for managing and conserving rare plants on western public lands

“…Our analysis of litigation records covered Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming because the original study we drew upon focused on the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Upper Colorado Basin. We conducted the analysis of Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) solely in Colorado because the frequency and distribution of proposed actions (e.g., fluid minerals development) in the state are similar to patterns exhibited on the national scale (Carter et al, 2023). Based on the locations and jurisdictions of our BLM project team members, our study area for the semi-structured interviews consisted of the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico.…”