Human Dimensions of Resource Management

Public lands management requires the use of science, but agency staff rarely have time to stay current with all the science on management-relevant topics, especially as articles are published at an ever-increasing rate. In this new series of learning modules, we aim to provide scientists with essential tools, skills, and strategies for coproducing actionable science products with and for federal...

FORT researchers provide sound science to support the Department of the Interior in its efforts to reduce the risks wildfires pose to people and property, expand outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities, and promote economic decision making in public lands management. This research is developed in partnership with resource managers from local, State, Federal and Tribal governments, industry...

Human dimensions in the context of natural resource management refers to understanding attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of American citizens in order to improve conservation and management of public lands and waters. Human Dimensions at the FORT also includes understanding the users and applications of data and technology in the context of natural resource management.

As part of the Values Mapping for Planning in Regional Ecosystems project, also known as VaMPIRE, USGS scientists are developing a public participatory GIS application that aids in gathering information about visitors’ values for public lands and waters.

Planning and managing outdoor recreation on public land and water entails a series of choices, many of which are economic in nature. Economics is useful for informing a wide range of decision-making processes in the context of outdoor recreation management, including why people choose to engage in recreation and where, how people substitute between different types of recreation activities and...

Habitat models can provide critical information on the current and potential distribution of plant species, as well as help target and support conservation efforts. Despite their potential utility in public land management, model use may be constrained by a variety of factors including staff access to and trust in models. In this project, we seek to bring together model users and model developers...

USGS and Colorado State University researchers are conducting analyses and predictions of sagebrush recovery in the Great Basin and Wyoming and assess the role of weather, soils, and reseeding treatments.

This interdisciplinary project combines expert judgment on treatment costs with spatially explicit ecological modeling to estimate the financial resources needed to address the threat of invasive annual grass across the entire sagebrush biome. Results of the assessment will provide economic insights that can inform cost-effective resource allocation to efficiently achieve sagebrush conservation...

The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) represents the foundational and successful effort to manage waterfowl and migratory bird in North America. Continued success of NAWMP depends on maintaining relevance to partners and society over time. Social science research supports NAWMP by providing a better understanding of what people value regarding waterfowl and their habitats.

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to model the social-ecological system that encompasses chronic wasting disease management in the United States. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, neurologically degenerative disease that impacts many cervid species in North America (e.g., elk, moose, mule deer, and white...

As part of a broader USGS project on Post-fire Hazards and Impacts to Resources and Ecosystems (PHIRE): Support for Response, Recovery, and Mitigation, the PHIRE social science team convenes stakeholders involved in post-fire hazard science and decision-making to identify potential consequences resulting from post-fire hazard scenarios along with strategies to reduce the likelihood or severity of...

The Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System seeks to conserve, protect, and restore nationally significant landscapes. Science is a critical piece of this effort. The US Geological Survey is working with the Bureau of Land Management to develop Science Plans to help prioritize and support science efforts to better understand and manage resources in these landscapes.