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Tools for Public Land Managers Active

By Fort Collins Science Center June 27, 2018

Fort Collins Science Center Economists support numerous web applications that convey information and data to specific audiences. An important aspect of many of these tools is to connect practitioners and other stakeholders to resources.

For example, the Natural Value Resource Center (NVRC)

  • ASPN is a web-based decision tool that assists natural resource managers and planners in identifying and prioritizing social and economic planning issues, and provides guidance on appropriate social and economic methods to address their identified issues. ASPN provides a common framework which provides consistency within and across natural resource management agencies to assist in identification of pertinent social and economic issues while also allowing the social and economic analyses to be tailored to best meet the needs of the specific plan or project.

  • The SEA branch manages HDgov, an interactive informational website that links users to the human-side of natural resource management. HDgov summaries and directs users to methods, on-line tools, publications, and a calendar of events, and is currently being expanded to facilitate a Department of the Interior Economics and Social Science Community of Practice.

  • The USGS Benefit Transfer Toolkit includes downloadable databases of more than 3,000 economic value estimates drawn from 500 previous studies on the value of outdoor recreation, surface water quality improvements, salmon preservation, and threatened and endangered species in the United States. The website also contains options for users to explore regional average economic values by outdoor recreation type and forecasting models designed to tailor economic estimates to unique management locations and situations. It allows resource planners and managers to incorporate nonmarket values into their planning and decision-making without spending the time and money necessary to obtain original data.

  • Overview

    Fort Collins Science Center Economists support numerous web applications that convey information and data to specific audiences. An important aspect of many of these tools is to connect practitioners and other stakeholders to resources.

    For example, the Natural Value Resource Center (NVRC)

    • ASPN is a web-based decision tool that assists natural resource managers and planners in identifying and prioritizing social and economic planning issues, and provides guidance on appropriate social and economic methods to address their identified issues. ASPN provides a common framework which provides consistency within and across natural resource management agencies to assist in identification of pertinent social and economic issues while also allowing the social and economic analyses to be tailored to best meet the needs of the specific plan or project.

    • The SEA branch manages HDgov, an interactive informational website that links users to the human-side of natural resource management. HDgov summaries and directs users to methods, on-line tools, publications, and a calendar of events, and is currently being expanded to facilitate a Department of the Interior Economics and Social Science Community of Practice.

    • The USGS Benefit Transfer Toolkit includes downloadable databases of more than 3,000 economic value estimates drawn from 500 previous studies on the value of outdoor recreation, surface water quality improvements, salmon preservation, and threatened and endangered species in the United States. The website also contains options for users to explore regional average economic values by outdoor recreation type and forecasting models designed to tailor economic estimates to unique management locations and situations. It allows resource planners and managers to incorporate nonmarket values into their planning and decision-making without spending the time and money necessary to obtain original data.