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The National Fish Habitat Action Plan Science and Data Strategy. National Fish Habitat Action Plan. Presented to: Midwest National Fish Habitat Workshop June 3, 2008 By: Gary E. Whelan. Overview. National Fish Habitat Science and Data Strategy – Framework Philosophy Components - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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n The National Fish The National Fish Habitat Action Plan Habitat Action Plan Science and Data Science and Data StrategyStrategy
Presented to:
Midwest National Fish Habitat Workshop
June 3, 2008
By: Gary E. Whelan
Overview
• National Fish Habitat Science and Data Strategy – Framework• Philosophy• Components
• National Fish Habitat Assessment• Broad Conceptual Overview
• Other Key Science and Data Concepts
Historic View of “Habitat”
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Key Tenets
• Must address the problems underlying habitat issues, not the symptoms
• Must address system process level issues• Must work with a range of others to address
these complex issues• Must show real progress in improving aquatic
habitat that leads to improved fish populations• Must make strategic investments in habitat
• Protect intact healthy systems• Rehabilitate degraded systems• Improve engineered systems
Framework Report Components
• What is habitat?• What is the problem?• The Assessment Tool
• Classification• Condition
• Priorities, priorities… - Helping our partners be more effective
• Did we really do anything? The Evaluation Process
• The nuts and bolts – The hardware and software to do the job
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Assessment Basis
• Systems are nested and hierarchical• Systems can be classified• Processes and their key
component/impairments can be classified
• Processes are nested and hierarchical • Impairments
• Inland and coastal systems must be connected
Classification
Horizontal and Vertical Data Summaries
Condition Focus on Key Processes
(Emergent Properties)
• Connectivity• Hydrology• Channel and Bottom Form• Material Recruitment• Water Quality• Energy Flow in Aquatic CommunitiesN
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Condition Model
Process
Impairment Impairment
Components
Sub-components
Component Inputs
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Condition Analysis • Build a Habitat Index based on layered
(hierarchal) Individual Habitat Variables that can be improved.• Scores within each level averaged
• Score each Classified Unit against others in the Classification.• Two Scale Scores
0 100Best Theoretical PossibleBest Currently Available
Series of sub-scores that can be improved on
Cape Fear River - Piedmont
Appalachian Piedmont
WWF Ecoregions
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nNational Assessment Update
Ecologically Sound Framework
• WWF Freshwater Ecoregions
• TNC Ecological Drainage Units (EDUs)
• National Hydrography Dataset plus (NHD+)Nati
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NFH Assessment Spatial Hierarchy
- Vertical Summary
TNC EDUs (244)TNC EDUs (244)
WWF Freshwater Ecoregions (45)WWF Freshwater Ecoregions (45)
Reaches/watersheds Reaches/watersheds (2,592,348)(2,592,348)
NFH Assessment Basic Units (NHD+)
• Available nationwide
• Reach definition
• Watershed boundary
• Local vs network watershed
• Watershed characteristics
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Horizontal Summary Prototype - Stratifying Streams Based on Size
Strategy for stream size stratification:
Drainage area (km2)
• Headwaters: ≤ 10• Creeks: 10 ~ 100• Small Rivers: 100 ~ 1,000• Medium Rivers: 1,000 ~ 10,000• Large Rivers: 10,000 ~ 25,000• Great Rivers: > 25,000
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Number and % of Reaches in Each Stratum
1502340
677989
264099
102391
19621 25908
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
1400000
1600000
Headw aters Creeks Small Rivers Medium Rivers Large Rivers Great Rivers
Nu
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of
reach
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58%
26%
10%
4% 1% 1%
Criteria for Selecting Data
• Covering all or most of conterminous U.S.
• Consistently collected or developed
• Meaningful for assessing fish habitatNati
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NFH Assessment Environmental Databases
1. Active Mines - USGS2. 2001 Forest Canopy 3. Road Density - NOAA 4. SPARROW Nutrients - USGS5. National Inventory of Dams 6. 2001 Impervious Surfaces7. 2001 National Land Cover8. STATSGO Soil data - USDA9. 1992 National Land Cover 10. 2000 Water Use Estimates
11. EPA 303d12. 2000 Population Density – NOAA13. 2002 Agriculture Census of U.S14. Toxic Release Inventory – EPA15. Impaired and Threatened Waters –
EPA16. National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System – EPA17. Treatment, Storage, Disposal
facilities - EPA 18. Fish Passage Decision Systems -
US FWS
NFH Assessment Fish Data • NAWQA data - USGS• EMAP and REMAP data – EPA• Total 2329 samples• Other resources
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How Done? Assigning Attributes to Local Watersheds
GIS programming
17 databases and 80 attributes
Processing units: regions
12
3
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EDU Summary of Human Disturbances - Cape Fear River
• Urban• Cattle • Mine• Agriculture• Population• Road density• Total P yield• Imperviousness
edutnc052907_lower48
finalscorequatile5.total
1 very low
2 low
3 medium
4 high
5 very high
no EDUs
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Human Disturbances by EDUs
• Urban• Cattle • Mine• Agriculture• Population• Road density• Total P yield• Imperviousness
edutnc052907_lower48
finalscorequatile5.total
1 very low
2 low
3 medium
4 high
5 very high
no EDUs
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Human Disturbances by Ecoregions
• Urban• Cattle • Mine• Agriculture• Population• Road density• Total P yield• Imperviousness
edutnc052907_lower48
finalscorequatile5.total
1 very low
2 low
3 medium
4 high
5 very high
no EDUs
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• On target – Oct Deliverables• Prototype – Rivers model in lower 48 states
• 14 datasets• Only complete datasets
• Plan – Lakes, Coastal, HI, AK• Others and prioritization• Scoring issues with lakes
• Assessment improvement• Partial databases incorporation
• Maps
National Fish Habitat Assessment
• Coastal Component• Logically can be done
• CAF bridge• CMEC – Hierarchical and can be used in Great Lakes
• NatureServe/NOAA System
• Focus on inshore systems not 3D systems• Need resources
• Strategy correct
National Fish Habitat Assessment
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• Reporting scale issues• National vs. Partnership Report
• Can not go down in scale with data• Will provide table of where data is available and usable
• AK
• Databases• Prioritization
• SWAP objectives need to be into FONS
• Project• Monitoring data
• Surrogates Variables• Preferred variables - data not available
• Committee agreed with surrogate variables in assessment
• Link variables to fish• EBKT Joint Venture approach is a possibility
Other Assessment Science Updates
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• Modeled data • Stressor analysis
• Plans to Stressor Planning Meeting – Spring 2008
• Request for data partnerships• USCOE, NRCS, NOAA– River Forecast Center, Snow Data • Fish distribution databases
• Reporting Scales for Assessment• EDUs• State• Congressional Districts• Physiographic Units• Federally Owned Lands
• Future Assessment – 2015• Need to put structures to conduct future assessments and
needed improvements• Care and feeding funding
Other Assessment Science Updates
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• Need to fully act on budget• Concern with losing institutional knowledge• Critical to act to ensure completion by 2010
• Decreased credibility• Data loss• Momentum loss• Behind because of delayed budgeting
• Interim support from USFWS and USGS• Request to AFWA for state support
• Suggested $12,000 per state
Assessment Budget ConcernN
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Cape Fear River - Piedmont
Appalachian Piedmont
WWF Ecoregions
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nOther Science and Data Concepts
Priorities, Priorities, Priorities……..
• Many, many already exist in a myriad of places but none can be found• Web-accessible GIS Database will be
designed but there will be a time lag
• Data Sources• State Wildlife Action Plans• Recovery Plans• River Planning Documents• Other Priorities
• State • Federal agencies• Tribal agencies
Prioritization Tool• Map all priorities – Web accessible• Two Scoring Approaches
• Individual Project• System score• Times a priority• Likely investment return• State fisheries agency priority
• Classified Unit• Unit score• Number of priorities• Number of groups• Total investment return• Number of state fisheries agency priorities
• Take both tools through a final index• Likelihood of success• Approach – Protection, Rehabilitation or Re-engineering• Socioeconomic
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Did we really do anything? The Evaluation Component
• Since 1990, $14-15 billion spent on habitat project and only 10% evaluated• Lost many opportunities to improve
• Key is to use evaluation as a learning tool• Critical to have a layered evaluation and
quality control program• One size does not fit all• Different roles at different scales
• How to best accomplish
Scaled Evaluation Approach• Key Scale Components
• Local - Project Effectiveness – Scored against Regional Partnership Goals for habitat and species
• Regional - Cumulative within Region• Develop Regional Goals using threat,
situation and viability data• Scored against classified unit scores – Did
we move the habitat ball?• Summed Species Success
• Each project identifies target species
• Did they go up or down vs. baseline
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Scaled Evaluation Approach
• Key Components• National
• National Goals and Targets• Coordinate tracking and metrics
among Regional Partnerships• Synthesize all evaluations and scores
from Regional Partners• National Fish Habitat Assessment
Nuts and Bolts• Four Data Systems
• State of Fish Habitat Reporting System• Progress toward NFHI Goals Tracking System• NFHI Habitat Projects Priorities Data System• NFHI Restoration Projects Data System
• Interactive Web-based GIS System• Critical to have a single entity
responsible for database hardware and software
• Oversight board for system development and operation with initial issues
• Data transfer and dealing with distributed data• Web services• Scaling issues• Integration of regional data
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Cape Fear River - Piedmont
Appalachian Piedmont
WWF Ecoregions
Science and Data Committee Roles
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• Develop guidance for Partnerships• Use of assessment• Data guidance• Monitoring – Critical component
• Assist in Partnership Selection Process• Assist in development of improved guidelines• Boundary development
• Project selection process
Future Committee RolesN
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• Develop guidance for Partnerships• Use of assessment• Data guidance• Monitoring – Critical component
• Assist in Partnership Selection Process• Assist in development of improved guidelines• Boundary development
• Project selection process
Future Committee RolesN
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• Develop guidance for Partnerships• Use of assessment• Data guidance• Monitoring – Critical component
• Assist in Partnership Selection Process• Assist in development of improved guidelines• Boundary development
• Project selection process
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• Develop guidance for Partnerships• Use of assessment• Data guidance• Monitoring – Critical component
• Assist in Partnership Selection Process• Assist in development of improved guidelines• Boundary development
• Project selection process
Future Committee RolesN
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Thank You!
Visit www.fishhabitat.org for more information
Gary E. Whelan
Michigan DNR
517-373-6948
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