Identifying Priority Science Information Needs for Managing Public Lands.
Public lands worldwide provide diverse resources, uses, and values, ranging from wilderness to extractive uses. Decision-making on public lands is complex as a result and is required by law to be informed by science. However, public land managers may not always have the science they need. We develop...
| Published in: | Environmental Management Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 444 - 464 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Mar2025
|
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=183283643&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 183283643 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 0364152X O5H jtl: Environmental Management issn: 0364152X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2025 vid: 75 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature place: New York, New York artinfo: ui: 183283643 181182201 10.1007/s00267-024-02080-3 183283643 ppf: 444 ppct: 20 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Identifying Priority Science Information Needs for Managing Public Lands. aug: au: Carter, Sarah K. Haby, Travis S. Samuel, Ella M. Foster, Alison C. Meineke, Jennifer K. McCall, Laine E. Burton, Malia K. Domschke, Christopher T. Espy, Leigh D. Gilbert, Megan A. affil: https://ror.org/00zf0nh29 U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, USA sug: ab: Public lands worldwide provide diverse resources, uses, and values, ranging from wilderness to extractive uses. Decision-making on public lands is complex as a result and is required by law to be informed by science. However, public land managers may not always have the science they need. We developed a methodology for identifying priority science needs for public land management agencies. We relied on two core data sources: environmental effects analyses conducted for agency decisions and legal challenges to those decisions. We considered needs in four categories: data, science, methods, and mitigation measures. We classified topics as primary science needs when (1) the topic was analyzed frequently in agency environmental analyses, (2) our metric of quality/defensibility was low or mitigation measures were frequently included for the topic, and (3) the agency was challenged on its use of science for the topic. We applied our methodology to the Bureau of Land Management—the largest public land manager in the United States—in Colorado, a state with abundant and diverse public lands. Primary identified needs were data on vegetation; science about effects of oil and gas development and livestock grazing on multiple resources, including terrestrial wildlife; methods for analyzing environmental effects for many topics; and mitigation measures for protecting vegetation, soils, water quality, and archaeological and historic resources. Science needs often reflect needs for facilitating and supporting the use of existing science in agency decision-making. Our method can be applied across agencies, geographies, and timeframes to help strengthen science use in public lands decision-making. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|