RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest

Launched in June 2016, RAMPS was developed to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies develop successful restoration strategies for the water-limited ecosystems of the Southwest. RAMPS is funded by DOI and composed of scientists and managers from multiple USGS Science Centers, DOI management agencies, and universities.

RAMPS SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING CHALLENGING DRYLAND ECOSYSTEMS

Stakeholder engagement
PROBLEM: The importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration is well-understood. The importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration is well-understood. However, managers and scientists are often time-limited and intentions to build partnerships suffers as a result.

SOLUTION: RAMPS projects are multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and co-created. RAMPS identifies systemic gaps in restoration knowledge and develops projects and creative solutions that create new insight using scientifically-credible research. Through these solutions, RAMPS increases skills, knowledge, and expertise needed to manage public lands across the Southwest.

EXAMPLES: Symposia and meetings, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, facilitation and collaboration, training and education
 

Research
PROBLEM: Several obstacles prevent land managers from implementing successful land treatments, including a lack of: information on costs relative to outcomes, post-treatment monitoring data, and science-informed innovation.

SOLUTION: RAMPS uses state-of-the-art scientific analysis and tools to increase the efficacy of land treatments across waterlimited ecosystems and finds innovative approaches to mitigate large disturbances. Through these solutions, RAMPS ensures progress in planning and implementing projects, and provides guidance and support for monitoring and adaptive management.

EXAMPLES: Data synthesis and integration, cost-benefit analysis, site re-visits, experimentation, energy development and reclamation best management practices, drought regeneration niche modeling

Decision support
PROBLEM: Scientific advancements can be difficult for land managers to access and incorporate into their project planning. 

SOLUTION: RAMPS provides decision support via tools, protocols, and science delivery portals. This support distills scientific findings into readily accessible information on when, where, and how to restore. Through these solutions, RAMPS helps bridge the science-land management gap.

EXAMPLES: Land enhancement information portal, decision-support tools, newsletters and social media, information briefs, guidance on restoration techniques, and monitoring protocols
 

A group of land managers from the Hopi and Navajo Nations gather in a desert wash on the Hopi Nation where effective erosion-control structures were built using simple techniques. The group was part of a program named "Building Tribal Resiliency Through Native Seeds" and funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The program gathered tribal professionals led by USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS), Navajo Nation Natural Heritage Program's Dine Native Plant Program, and Tolani Lake Enterprises. The program was a series of workshops designed to build capacity within tribal staff who manage natural resources.

(Credit: Molly McCormick, USGS. Public domain.)