national fish habitat action plan

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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

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Headw aters Creeks Small Rivers Medium Rivers Large Rivers Great Rivers

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

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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

3 medium

4 high

5 very high

no EDUs

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Human Disturbances by EDUs

1 very low

3 medium

4 high

5 very high

no EDUs

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Human Disturbances by Ecoregions

1 very 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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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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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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Thank You!

Visit www.fishhabitat.org for more information

Gary E. Whelan

Michigan DNR

whelang@michigan.gov

517-373-6948

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