SUSTAINING ENVIRONMENTAL CAPITAL (SEC) INITIATIVE Providing resources for applying ecosystem services in public land & water management

The fourth recommendation of President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report, Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy. “Federal agencies with responsibilities relating to ecosystems and their services [are] tasked with improving their capabilities to develop valuations for the ecosystem services affected by their decision-making and factoring the results into analyses that inform their major planning and management decisions”. ORIGIN OF THE SEC

– Provide guidance for using ES information in management decisions. – Identify areas of collaboration and opportunities to leverage resources SEC GOALS – Develop, integrate, and enhance natural resource management decision support tools, systems and information; – Enable managers to account for the benefits people receive from ES;

The envisioned SEC will have a – Physical presence (represented by policy and science coordination) – Virtual presence (on-line dashboard). – Science Application Pilot studies – Partner Engagement Science Policy Management STRUCTURE

INITIAL SCIENCE FOCUS: AQUATIC RESOURCES Results in aquatic ecosystems will be used to develop ES practices that can be applied to other ecological environments. ID potential areas of collaboration and overlapping efforts Leverage existing resources – REF-DSS, SPARROW

Objective 1.1 Establish mechanism to interface USGS ES science with national policy decision making and resource management practices. Objective 1.2 Conduct a gap analysis and partner engagement to identify ES information and tool need and availability. Incorporate existing ES reviews and organization efforts to serve them on the SEC dashboard. OBJECTIVE 1: GAP ANALYSIS, COORDINATION, & INTEGRATION

Objective 2.1 Develop and demonstrate state of the art ES methods in pilot studies through integration with existing ES partner efforts. Objective 2.2 Establish ES methods and data protocols that are transferrable to diverse ecosystems and can be applied nationally. OBJECTIVE 2: ADAPT ECOSYSTEM SERVICE DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND APPLICATION

Objective 3.1 Develop a website (Dashboard) that will enhance assessment of ES and identify trends regionally and nationally. Objective 3.2 Create an informatics architecture that uses EcoINFORMA to manage data and serve ES tools and information for decision makers. OBJECTIVE 3: DEVELOP AND LAUNCH THE WEBSITE

1.Benefit transfer to estimate economic values by transferring available information from completed studies; 2.Primary data collection to generate detailed values for specific ES; and 3.Ecological endpoint descriptions to incorporate values in decision making processes. 4.Intangible services such as Cultural or aesthetic values ES VALUATION METHODS

The initial focus is on services in aquatic ecosystems using 3 pilots studies 1.Chesapeake 2.Delaware 3.Pacific Northwest PILOT STUDIES USGS science Team: Eastern Geographic Science Center, Reston Fort Collins Science Center, Social and Economic Analysis Branch Fort Collins Science Center, Aquatic Systems Branch Leetown Science Center, Northern Appalachian Research Branch National Water-Quality Assessment Program Science and Decisions Center, Reston

TIME LINE

1.Metrics: science-based sets of metrics for assessing changes in inputs, outputs, and outcomes 2.Production Functions: improved estimation of the effects of changes in the structure, function, and dynamics of ecosystems 3.ES Valuation: identifying, developing, sharing, and applying best practices for both monetary and non- monetary approaches 4.Socioeconomic & Behavioral Factors: Identification and characterization of drivers; linkages among system dynamics 5.Decision Support: strategies to include ES considerations in decision making processes CGI RESEARCH NEEDS (2015):

QUESTIONS

1.Ecosystem services from the perspective of agencies or offices: – How are ecosystem services applied in your agency decision making process? – What are the potential ecosystem service decision points in the future? – At what point in the decision process does ecosystem service information help? 2.What can the SEC produce or what can be used in the field and by decision makers: – What kinds of products might meet ecosystem service needs? – Are there opportunities to build on existing efforts? DISCUSSION TOPICS

Ecosystem services from the perspective of agencies or offices: Management objectives Site characteristics and scale Socioeconomic considerations Policy directives Time-dependent considerations Trade-offs Financing KEY FACTORS OFTEN INCLUDED IN DECISION MAKING

Information organization/serving Science/data gathering project Policy modification/design Collaborative processes/partnerships Guidance documents Specific research agendas Tools (web and other) Community of Practice Needs assessments context specific other? FUNCTIONAL PRODUCTS & OUTCOMES