Science and Products
About the Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch
Joint Fire Science Program Evaluation
NexView: Empowering decision makers to assess the impacts of development on social-ecological systems in the Lower Mekong River Basin by increasing access with integrated and visualized data, models, and decision making tools
Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Bureau of Land Management
Social and Ecological Resilience in Southwestern Colorado
Colorado Plateau Futures: Understanding Agents of Change on the Colorado Plateau to Facilitate Collaborative Adaptation
Building Social and Ecological Resilience to Climate Change in Southwestern Colorado: Phase 2
Policy Analysis and Decision Support
How and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools (or Not)
Negotiation Skills for Natural Resource Professionals: Building a Foundation
The Fort Collins Science Center's Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch has been conducting and publishing research on multi-party natural resource negotiation since the 1980s. This research has led to the development of the basic negotiation training courses. This course is a mix of lecture, hands-on training, and discussion. Please join us and other natural resource professiona
Strategies and Tactics for the Experienced Natural Resource Negotiator
In 2021, the advanced negotiation course, "Strategies and Tactics for Experienced Natural Resource Negotiator", will not be offered.
Understanding Fluid Injection Induced Seismicity
Online survey responses from users of the Joint Fire Science Program Fire Science Exchange Network from February 2021
Navigating the space between policy and practice: Toward a typology of collaborators in a federal land management agency
2021 assessment of the Joint Fire Science Program’s Fire Science Exchange Network
A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions
Navigating climate adaptation on public lands: How views on ecosystem change and scale interact with management approaches
U.S. Geological Survey core science systems strategy: characterizing, synthesizing, and understanding the critical zone through a modular science framework
Natural resource management decision-making under climate uncertainty: Building social-ecological resilience in southwestern Colorado
Ecological drought: Accounting for the non-human impacts of water shortage in the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin, Montana, USA
A survey of Bureau of Land Management employees on collaboration and alternative dispute resolution
Coping with earthquakes induced by fluid injection
Disputes over science and dispute resolution approaches - A survey of Bureau of Reclamation employees
Science strategy for Core Science Systems in the U.S. Geological Survey, 2013-2023
An exploration of Bureau of Reclamation approaches for managing conflict over diverging science
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
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About the Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch
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.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.NexView: Empowering decision makers to assess the impacts of development on social-ecological systems in the Lower Mekong River Basin by increasing access with integrated and visualized data, models, and decision making tools
The NexView integrated decision framework will facilitate informed discussions and decisions by enabling policy makers to manipulate and explore multiple decision scenarios and understand the impacts of these decision alternatives before decisions are made.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.Social and Ecological Resilience in Southwestern Colorado
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.Colorado Plateau Futures: Understanding Agents of Change on the Colorado Plateau to Facilitate Collaborative Adaptation
The objective of this interdisciplinary research effort is to 1) characterize agents of change important to land management decision makers on the Colorado Plateau; 2) identify and analyze relationships between agents of change and key landscape attributes and processes; 3) collectively assess the influence of agents of change and attributes and processes on the services provided by the ecosystem...Building Social and Ecological Resilience to Climate Change in Southwestern Colorado: Phase 2
In southwestern Colorado, land managers anticipate the impacts of climate change to include higher temperatures, more frequent and prolonged drought, accelerated snowmelt, larger and more intense fires, more extreme storms, and the spread of invasive species. These changes put livelihoods, ecosystems, and species at risk. Focusing on communities in southwestern Colorado’s San Juan and Gunnison riv...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.How and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools (or Not)
Preparing for and responding to drought requires integrating scientific information into complex decision making processes. In recognition of this challenge, regional drought early warning systems (DEWS) and related drought-information tools have been developed under the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Despite the existence of many tools and information sources, however...Negotiation Skills for Natural Resource Professionals: Building a Foundation
The Fort Collins Science Center's Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch has been conducting and publishing research on multi-party natural resource negotiation since the 1980s. This research has led to the development of the basic negotiation training courses. This course is a mix of lecture, hands-on training, and discussion. Please join us and other natural resource professiona
Strategies and Tactics for the Experienced Natural Resource Negotiator
In 2021, the advanced negotiation course, "Strategies and Tactics for Experienced Natural Resource Negotiator", will not be offered.
Understanding Fluid Injection Induced Seismicity
Fluid injection induced seismicity has been reported since the 1960s. There are currently more than 150,000 injection wells associated with oil and gas production in 34 states in the conterminous US. Pore pressure disturbance caused by injection is generally considered the culprit for injection induced seismicity, but, not all injection causes seismicity. It is not well understood what mechanical - Data
Online survey responses from users of the Joint Fire Science Program Fire Science Exchange Network from February 2021
The USGS, on behalf of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), conducted an evaluation of the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN), which connects wildland fire scientists and practitioners through 15 individual exchanges across the United States to help address complex wildfire needs and challenges. This data set is from an online survey sent to more than 16,000 exchange network users during Febru - Publications
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Navigating the space between policy and practice: Toward a typology of collaborators in a federal land management agency
Navigating the space between policy and on-the-ground natural resource management presents unique challenges. We interviewed 22 U.S. Bureau of Land Management Field Office Managers to understand their perceptions toward, and applications of, collaboration with public and private stakeholders. Interviews were transcribed and open-coded using qualitative data analysis software. Then, each interview2021 assessment of the Joint Fire Science Program’s Fire Science Exchange Network
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), on behalf of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), conducted an evaluation of the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN), which connects wildland fire scientists and practitioners through 15 individual exchanges across the United States to help address complex wildfire needs and challenges. The study was divided into two phases: The first phase was a literature reA typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions
Drought is an inescapable reality in many regions, including much of the western United States. With climate change, droughts are predicted to intensify and occur more frequently, making the imperative for drought management even greater. Many diverse actors – including private landowners, business owners, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and managers and policymakers within tribNavigating climate adaptation on public lands: How views on ecosystem change and scale interact with management approaches
Managers are increasingly being asked to integrate climate change adaptation into public land management. The literature discusses a range of adaptation approaches, including managing for resistance, resilience, and transformation; but many strategies have not yet been widely tested. This study employed in-depth interviews and scenario-based focus groups in the Upper Gunnison Basin in Colorado toU.S. Geological Survey core science systems strategy: characterizing, synthesizing, and understanding the critical zone through a modular science framework
Executive SummaryCore Science Systems is a new mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that resulted from the 2007 Science Strategy, “Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges: U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007–2017.” This report describes the Core Science Systems vision and outlines a strategy to facilitate integrated characterization and understanding of the complex Earth system. The visByCore Science Systems Mission Area, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Community for Data Integration (CDI), Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Coastal Changes and ImpactsNatural resource management decision-making under climate uncertainty: Building social-ecological resilience in southwestern Colorado
The goal of this project was to facilitate climate change adaptation that contributes to social-ecological resilience, ecosystem and species conservation, and sustainable human communities in southwestern Colorado. The team developed and piloted integrated adaptation planning tools and principles that merge the strengths of the iterative scenario process, the Adaptation for Conservation Targets (AEcological drought: Accounting for the non-human impacts of water shortage in the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin, Montana, USA
Water laws and drought plans are used to prioritize and allocate scarce water resources. Both have historically been human-centric, failing to account for non-human water needs. In this paper, we examine the development of instream flow legislation and the evolution of drought planning to highlight the growing concern for the non-human impacts of water scarcity. Utilizing a new framework for ecoloA survey of Bureau of Land Management employees on collaboration and alternative dispute resolution
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been actively expanding its capacity to work cooperatively with other agencies, Tribes, the public, and other stakeholders using collaborative and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches. In 1997, the BLM created the BLM’s Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (Collaboration/ADR Program) to centralize, strengthen, and coordinate thCoping with earthquakes induced by fluid injection
Large areas of the United States long considered geologically stable with little or no detected seismicity have recently become seismically active. The increase in earthquake activity began in the mid-continent starting in 2001 (1) and has continued to rise. In 2014, the rate of occurrence of earthquakes with magnitudes (M) of 3 and greater in Oklahoma exceeded that in California (see the figure).Disputes over science and dispute resolution approaches - A survey of Bureau of Reclamation employees
Water resources in parts of the Western United States are over-allocated, which intensifies the pressure to support water management decisions with strong scientific evidence. Because scientific studies sometimes provide uncertain or competing results or recommendations, science can become a source of disputes during decision-making processes. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is an importanScience strategy for Core Science Systems in the U.S. Geological Survey, 2013-2023
Core Science Systems is a new mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that grew out of the 2007 Science Strategy, “Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges: U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007–2017.” This report describes the vision for this USGS mission and outlines a strategy for Core Science Systems to facilitate integrated characterization and understanding of the complex earth system.An exploration of Bureau of Reclamation approaches for managing conflict over diverging science
As a major institutional agent supplying Western water resources, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) provides important leadership, technical, and financial resources in water management, serving as the West's "water broker" (Bowersox 2000; Pisani 2003). In recent years, growing numbers of constituencies using water and the over-allocation of water resources have contributed to conflict overNon-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.