1. National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance March 29, 2016
Wilderness Stewardship Performance: Its Structure, Goals, Roles for Volunteer-based Stewardship Organizations
National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance
March 29, 2016

2. Who I Am
Steve Boutcher
National Wilderness & Wild and Scenic River Information Manager
Burlington, VT

3. Outline for Presentation
Background
Overview of Wilderness Stewardship Performance (WSP)
Partner Contribution to WSP
Online Resources Available
Questions?
Questions: I’ll stop once in the middle for questions and then will also leave plenty of time at the end of the call.
What I won’t be covering are the specifics of the NWSA granting program which will be provided in the next training seminar to be led by Randy Welsh on April 15th

4. What is a “performance measure”?
Performance Measure: “A quantifiable indicator used to assess how well an organization or business is achieving its desired objectives.”
Peter Drucker quote: “What gets measured gets managed”

5. Background – 10YWSC
Created new performance measure “# of wildernesses managed to a minimum stewardship level”
Identified 10 common elements; each worth 10-points …. Wildernesses scoring 60-points and higher were determined to be “managed to standard”
Packaged as “10-Year Wilderness Stewardship Challenge” (10YWSC), endorsed by the Chief in 2003
Goal was to reach 100% of wildernesses to standard in 10-years (by 2014)

6. Progress on 10YWSC
% to Standard Average Score

8. Where to Next? Decision to focus on two initiatives:
Wilderness Character Monitoring (WCM)
Wilderness Stewardship Performance (WSP)

9. Wilderness Character Monitoring
Interagency strategy, with agency specific monitoring protocols
Consists of five “qualities”: untrammeled, undeveloped, natural, opportunities for solitude, other features of value
First time applied, baseline determined; second time applied, trends evaluated
Does not have a field data collection component – relies on “best data available”

10. Wilderness Character Monitoring

11. Comparison: WSP vs. WCM

12. WSP Overview
Each wilderness must select 10 “core” elements from a list of 20
May also select “elective” elements
Each element is worth 10-points, in 2-point increments
A wilderness is determined to be “managed to standard” when it scores 60-points or higher
There is no fixed timeline for when wildernesses are expected to be managed to standard
Forests are expected to make steady improvement

13. WSP Framework

14. WSP Framework w/ Partners
Twelve elements where partners can most clearly play a role
I’ll drill down a bit more deeply on six of these elements in just a few minutes.

15. WSP Element Selection Process

16. WSP Guidebook

17. WSP Guidebook

18. Natural Element- Invasive Species
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION: The invasive terrestrial and aquatic species of greatest concern to this wilderness, including vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and pathogens, have been assessed and treatment actions taken to address the highest priority populations, with an emphasis on prevention and early detection/rapid response.
Invasive species are successfully treated.

19. Natural Element- Invasive Species
PARTNER CONTRIBUTION:
Informal survey
Detailed quantitative inventory
Management actions taken
Effectiveness monitoring
Invasive species are successfully treated.

20. Natural Element- Air Quality Values
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION: The impact of air pollution on wilderness resources has been monitored and evaluated to inform relevant environmental analyses and permitting processes.
Air quality trends are measured.

21. Natural Element- Air Quality Values
PARTNER CONTRIBUTION:
Monitoring baseline established for priority sensitive receptor
Trends established for priority sensitive receptor
Air quality trends are measured.

22. Undeveloped Element- Recreation Sites
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION: Wilderness recreation sites have been located and their condition routinely assessed. Standards have been developed and stewardship actions taken if conditions are not in compliance with management direction.

23. Undeveloped Element- Recreation Sites
PARTNER CONTRIBUTION:
Inventory of recreation sites
Management actions taken if sites out of standard

24. Undeveloped Element- Trails
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION: Trails need to be managed to provide quality wilderness experiences while minimizing biophysical impacts.

25. Undeveloped Element- Trails
PARTNER CONTRIBUTION:
Assessment of NFS Trails for conformance with Trail Management Objectives
Survey of user developed trails

26. Solitude Element
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION: This wilderness has adequate direction, monitoring, and management actions to protect outstanding opportunities for solitude..

27. Solitude Element PARTNER CONTRIBUTION:
Baseline inventory of opportunities for solitude
Statistically valid monitoring of opportunities for solitude

28. Education Element
ELEMENT DESCRIPTION: Specific and targeted educational activities have been undertaken by Forest Service personnel, partners, and/or volunteers to improve understanding and awareness of wilderness values by the public.

29. Education Element PARTNER CONTRIBUTION:
Implementing priority actions from education plan
Implementing specific actions to target non- traditional audiences and engage youth

30. FY 2016 WSP National Funding
Three components:
WSP Grants
Partnership w/ NWSA
National Priority Projects:
User developed trail protocol
Statistically valid solitude monitoring protocol

31. FY 2016 Tasks & Timeline Internal WSP Survey (Jan. – Feb. ‘16)
Updates to Guidebook (Mar. – May ‘16)
Selection of Elements (Sept. ‘16)
Year-End Reporting (Oct. ‘16)

32. Resources on Wilderness.net

33. Resources on Wilderness.net

34. Resources on Wilderness.net

35. Resources on Wilderness.net

36. Questions?
Background photo: BWCAW (FS)