Policy Analysis and Decision Support

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is committed to using science-informed decision making for the public lands and resources that it manages. Uses on these lands are varied, and decisions are complex. USGS and BLM are working together to identify specific needs for data, science, methods, and mitigation actions that can strengthen the science foundation for BLM planning and management decisions.

Resource management decisions need to be informed by up-to-date, quality science and data. However there is sometimes an overwhelming number of scientific publications for managers to consider in their decisions. This project provides concise summaries of recent, peer-reviewed science and data products about different resources and topics of management concern, integrated into a searchable tool.

Scientific information is fundamental to understanding how proposed actions on public lands may impact the environment. However, agencies often have limited time to compile and synthesize existing science. We are working with the Bureau of Land Management to develop a new type of science product—short science syntheses—for facilitating use of the best available science in public lands decisions.

The use of rare plant habitat models in land management decisions can be constrained by issues surrounding data access, model quality, and institutional capacity, among other factors. This project seeks to understand challenges associated with using habitat models and explore avenues for addressing these challenges to facilitate greater use of habitat models in public lands decision making.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to assess potential impacts of proposed actions as part of their decision-making processes. Assessing potential cumulative effects is a challenging component of NEPA analyses. We are working with the Bureau of Land Management to develop a process that staff can use to strengthen cumulative effects analyses.

Coproduction is a highly collaborative approach to conducting science that focuses on producing actionable products that are used to inform natural resource management decisions. This project will develop an informational toolkit to facilitate coproduction between resource managers and science providers in the context of federal public land management.

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to systematically explore the issues, viewpoints, and concerns within the Service in relation to conservation introductions. Conservation introduction is the planned, intentional moving of species, populations or genotypes to a location outside a target’s native range.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) established the Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program in 1997 in order to comply with federal mandates and assist the BLM field in working effectively with other agencies, state, local, and Tribal governments, interest groups, stakeholders, and the public.

Effective environmental management requires integrating scientific information into complex decision making processes.

Ecological impacts of drought have been rarely considered compared to agricultural or municipal water supply effects.

Understanding potential changes in ecological, social, and climate systems can help managers and decision makers take actions to ensure that natural landscapes and human communities remain healthy and are able to provide essential ecosystem services now and in the future.

Social and Economic Analysis Branch Social Scientists investigate the process of environmental decision making and how stakeholder engagement strategies, policies, institutions, and decision support tools influence management outcomes.