Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch Active
The Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) branch is an interdisciplinary group of scientists whose primary functions are to conduct both theoretical and applied social science research, provide technical assistance, and offer training to support the development of skills in natural resource management activities.
The Nation’s economic and social development hinges on healthy and productive natural systems. The Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) is a leader in conducting economic and social science in the context of natural resource management decision-making. To conserve our nation’s natural resources and sustain a vibrant economy for present and future generations, FORT economists and social scientists develop and deliver relevant information used by resource managers to maximize and sustain benefits the American public realize from our Nation’s natural resources. FORT social scientists work to streamline institutional and social arrangements that facilitate the successful implementation of management plans and policies. Integrating people, economies, and social systems into natural decisions is inherently interdisciplinary and requires working across economic, social, and natural sciences. Economists and social scientists at the FORT provide unique capability in USGS by leading projects at the cutting edge of conducting interdisciplinary science in this complex context.
Research Areas
-
Human Dimensions of Resource Management
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.Economics and Ecosystem Services
Federal policymakers and land managers are accountable to the public for how they use public resources and for the outcomes of policy and management decisions. Through a variety of economic analyses and custom modeling, SEA economists evaluate how investments and management decisions affect individuals, local communities, and society as a whole.Policy Analysis and Decision Support
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.
News from the SEA branch
Explore all active and completed SEA branch science projects.
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Identifying Chains of Consequences and Interventions for Post-fire Hazards and Impacts to Resources and Ecosystems
Economic assessment of addressing annual invasive grasses across the sagebrush biome
Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy
Bureau of Land Management Recreational Visitor Data Program Review
Values Mapping for Planning in Regional Ecosystems (VaMPIRE)
Joint Fire Science Program Evaluation
Mapping Chronic Wasting Disease Management: Identify Opportunities for Intervention
Economic Implications of Sagebrush Treatment and Restoration Practices Across the Great Basin and Wyoming
Economics and Ecosystem Services
Conservation Introductions: Enhancing Decision Support for the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Islands
Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Bureau of Land Management
- Overview
The Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) branch is an interdisciplinary group of scientists whose primary functions are to conduct both theoretical and applied social science research, provide technical assistance, and offer training to support the development of skills in natural resource management activities.
The Nation’s economic and social development hinges on healthy and productive natural systems. The Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) is a leader in conducting economic and social science in the context of natural resource management decision-making. To conserve our nation’s natural resources and sustain a vibrant economy for present and future generations, FORT economists and social scientists develop and deliver relevant information used by resource managers to maximize and sustain benefits the American public realize from our Nation’s natural resources. FORT social scientists work to streamline institutional and social arrangements that facilitate the successful implementation of management plans and policies. Integrating people, economies, and social systems into natural decisions is inherently interdisciplinary and requires working across economic, social, and natural sciences. Economists and social scientists at the FORT provide unique capability in USGS by leading projects at the cutting edge of conducting interdisciplinary science in this complex context.
Research Areas-
Human Dimensions of Resource Management
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.Economics and Ecosystem Services
Federal policymakers and land managers are accountable to the public for how they use public resources and for the outcomes of policy and management decisions. Through a variety of economic analyses and custom modeling, SEA economists evaluate how investments and management decisions affect individuals, local communities, and society as a whole.Policy Analysis and Decision Support
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.
News from the SEA branch -
- Science
Explore all active and completed SEA branch science projects.
Filter Total Items: 43Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Approximately 35% of the US and approximately 82% of DOI lands are “drylands” found throughout the western US. These lands contain oil, gas, oil shale, shale oil, and tar sand deposits and the exploration for and extraction of these resources has resulted in hundreds of thousands of operating and abandoned wells across the West. These arid and semi-arid lands have unique soil and plant communities...Identifying Chains of Consequences and Interventions for Post-fire Hazards and Impacts to Resources and Ecosystems
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...Economic assessment of addressing annual invasive grasses across the sagebrush biome
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...Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy
USGS scientists are contributing to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, a strategy intended to provide guidance so that efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on it.Bureau of Land Management Recreational Visitor Data Program Review
The Bureau of Land Management Recreation and Visitor Services Program regularly conducts recreational visitor satisfaction surveys. The USGS Social and Economic Analysis Branch is assessing the visitor survey effort and recommending updates to the current effort.Values Mapping for Planning in Regional Ecosystems (VaMPIRE)
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.Joint Fire Science Program Evaluation
The Joint Fire Science Program is a partnership between the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service that connects relevant fire science research with stakeholders. USGS Scientists are supporting the Joint Fire Science Program by assessing the science needs of its stakeholders in order to inform future decision making.Mapping Chronic Wasting Disease Management: Identify Opportunities for Intervention
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...Economic Implications of Sagebrush Treatment and Restoration Practices Across the Great Basin and Wyoming
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.Economics and Ecosystem Services
Federal policymakers and land managers are accountable to the public for how they use public resources and for the outcomes of policy and management decisions. Through a variety of economic analyses and custom modeling, SEA economists evaluate how investments and management decisions affect individuals, local communities, and society as a whole.Conservation Introductions: Enhancing Decision Support for the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Islands
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.Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Bureau of Land Management
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.