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USGS2015

Integrating climate change into northeast and midwest State Wildlife Action Plans

The Department of Interior Northeast Climate Science Center (NE CSC) conducts research that responds to the regional natural resource management community’s needs to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change. The NE CSC is supported by a consortium of partners that includes the University of Massachusetts Amherst, College of Menominee Nation, Columbia University, Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri Columbia, and University of Wisconsin. The NE CSC also engages and collaborates with a diversity of other federal, state, academic, tribal, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to conduct collaborative, stakeholder-driven, and climate-focused work. The State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) are revised every 10 years; states are currently working towards a target deadline of October 2015. SWAP coordinators have been challenged to incorporate climate change impacts and species responses into their current revisions. This synthesis is intended to inform the science going into Northeast and Midwest SWAPs across the 22 NE CSC states ranging from Maine to Virginia, and Minnesota and Missouri in the eastern United States. It is anticipated that this synthesis will help guide SWAP authors in writing specific sections, help revise and finalize existing sections, or be incorporated as an appendix or addendum. The purpose of this NE CSC-led cooperative report is to provide a synthesis of what is known and what is uncertain about climate change and its impacts across the NE CSC region, with a particular focus on the responses and vulnerabilities of Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN) and the habitats they depend on. Another goal is to describe a range of climate change adaptation approaches, processes, tools, and potential partnerships that are available to State natural resource managers across the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Through illustrative case studies submitted by the NE CSC and partners, we demonstrate climate change adaptation efforts being explored and implemented across local and large-landscape scales. This document is divided into four sections and addresses the following climate and management relevant questions: Climate Change in the Northeast and Midwest United States: How is the climate changing and projected to change across the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States? Northeast and Midwest regional species and habitats at greatest risk and most vulnerable to climate impacts: What are the relative vulnerabilities of fish and wildlife species and their habitats to climate change in the Northeast and Midwest? Biological responses to climate impacts with a focus on Northeast and Midwest Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN): How are threatened fish and wildlife likely to respond or adapt to climate change in the Northeast and Midwest? Scale-appropriate adaptation strategies and actions in the Northeast and Midwest United States: What approaches, strategies, and actions could be taken to sustain fish, wildlife and their habitats in the short and long term across the Northeast and Midwest? The outline and content for this document were developed with input from State Coordinators, members of the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, DOI Northeast Climate Science Center affiliated researchers, and other partners including the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and The Nature Conservancy. Terwilliger Consulting, Inc., was especially instrumental in helping connect and coordinate the authors of this report with State representatives through conference calls and email surveys to develop the most needed and effective information for current SWAP revisions. On a final note, the SWAPs are living documents that can be added to and evolve on timescales beyond the 10-year revision cycle. The development of this report was timed such that SWAP coordinators and writers would have sufficient time to implement this input before their October 2015 deadline. However, this document is also meant to serve as a starting point for coordinated and collaborative climate science and adaptation across the region; the NE CSC 5 endeavors to continue to provide actionable science during the coming years in collaboration with its diverse federal, state, NGO, and academic partners.

Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ke↗
USGS2020

Forage and habitat for pollinators in the northern Great Plains—Implications for U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs

Managed and wild pollinators are critical components of agricultural and natural systems. Despite the well-known value of insect pollinators to U.S. agriculture, Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758; honey bees) and wild bees currently face numerous stressors that have resulted in declining health. These declines have engendered support for pollinator conservation efforts across all levels of government, private businesses, and nongovernmental organizations. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Geological Survey initiated an interagency agreement to evaluate honey bee forage across multiple States in the northern Great Plains and upper Midwest. The long-term goal of this study was to provide an empirical evaluation of floral resources used by honey bees, and the relative contribution of multiple land covers and USDA conservation programs to bee health and productivity. Our multi-State analysis of land-use change from 2006 to 2016 revealed loss of grassland and increases in corn and soybean area in North and South Dakota, representing a significant loss of bee-friendly land covers in areas that support the highest density of summer bee yards in the entire United States. Our landscape models demonstrate the importance of the Conservation Reserve Program in providing safe locations for beekeepers to keep honey bees during the summer and highlights how land use in the northern Great Plains has a lasting effect on the health of honey bee colonies during almond pollination the subsequent spring. Our multiseason, multi-State genetic analysis of honey bee-collected pollen revealed Melilotus spp., Asteraceae, Trifolium spp., Fabaceae, Sonchus arvensis , Symphyotrichum cordifolium , and Solidago spp. were the top taxa detected; Melilotus spp. represented 42 percent of all detected taxa. Symphyotrichum cordifolium , Solidago spp., and Grindelia spp. were the top native forbs detected in honey bee-collected pollen. We also conducted plant and bee surveys on private lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. In general, we found significant variability in floral resources and pollinator utilization across USDA programs and practices. On average, greater than 75 percent of honey bee flower observations on private lands enrolled in a USDA conservation program were on non-native forbs, whereas 33 percent of wild bee flower observations were on non-native forbs. Melilotus officinalis and Medicago sativa were the most visited by honey bees, wherease Medicago sativa and Helianthus maximiliani were the most visited by wild bees. Our analysis of nectar dearth periods in June and September for honey bees revealed that although Melilotus officinalis and Medicago sativa were highly visited, less common native forb species such as Ratibida columnifera , Agastache foeniculum , and Gaillardia aristata were preferred species. However, these preferred species were relatively rare on the landscape and are, therefore, unlikely to make up a sizable part of the honey bee diet. In addition to our empirical results, we also showcase how the U.S. Geological Survey Pollinator Library, a decision-support tool for natural resource managers, can be used to design cost-effective seeding mixes for pollinators. Collectively, the results of this research will assist USDA with maximizing the ecological impact and cost-effectiveness of their conservation programs on pollinators in the northern Great Plains.

Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota↗
USGS2004

Fort Collins Science Center: Species and Habitats of Federal Interest

Ecosystem changes directly affect a wide variety of plant and animal species, floral and faunal communities, and groups of species such as amphibians and grassland birds. Appropriate management of public lands plays a crucial role in the conservation and recovery of endangered species and can be a key element in preventing a species from being listed under the Endangered Species Act. The Species and Habitats of Federal Interest Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) conducts research on the ecology, habitat requirements, distribution and abundance, population dynamics, and genetics and systematics of many species facing threatened or endangered status or of special concern to resource management agencies. FORT scientists develop reintroduction and restoration techniques, technologies for monitoring populations, and novel methods to analyze data on population trends and habitat requirements. FORT expertise encompasses both traditional and specialized natural resource disciplines within wildlife biology, including population dynamics, animal behavior, plant and community ecology, inventory and monitoring, statistics and computer applications, conservation genetics, stable isotope analysis, and curatorial expertise.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2019

Natural resource management decision-making under climate uncertainty: Building social-ecological resilience in southwestern Colorado

The goal of this project was to facilitate climate change adaptation that contributes to social-ecological resilience, ecosystem and species conservation, and sustainable human communities in southwestern Colorado. The team developed and piloted integrated adaptation planning tools and principles that merge the strengths of the iterative scenario process, the Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) planning framework, institutional analysis, and climate modeling. These tools and principles generated practical strategies and scientific knowledge to advance climate change adaptation in both the Gunnison River Basin and San Juan River Basin and, potentially, other landscapes. A key objective of this project was to work with decision-makers to develop social-ecological adaptation strategies and coordinate actions to reduce the impacts of a changing climate on nature and people. To accomplish this, the project blended science (biophysical and social) and participatory approaches to integrate expert knowledge, land management decision making, and local needs. These adaptation strategies and their creation process were documented by the project team to assist communities and scientists elsewhere who are grappling with the challenges posed by climate change.

Colorado↗
USGS2015

Development of twelve microsatellite loci in the red tree corals Primnoa resedaeformis and Primnoa pacifica

A suite of tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotide microsatellite loci were developed from Roche 454 pyrosequencing data for the cold-water octocorals Primnoa resedaeformis and P . pacifica . Twelve of 98 primer sets tested consistently amplified in 30 P . resedaeformis samples from Baltimore Canyon (western North Atlantic Ocean) and in 24 P . pacifica samples (Shutter Ridge, eastern Gulf of Alaska). The loci displayed moderate levels of allelic diversity (average 7.5 alleles/locus) and heterozygosity (average 47 %). Levels of genetic diversity were sufficient to produce unique multi-locus genotypes and to distinguish species. These common species are long-lived (hundreds of years) and provide essential fish habitat ( P . pacifica ), yet populations are provided little protection from human activities. These loci will be used to determine regional patterns of population connectivity to inform effective marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Conservation Genetics Resources↗
USGS2021

Bridging the research-implementation gap in avian conservation with translational ecology

The recognized gap between research and implementation in avian conservation can be overcome with translational ecology, an intentional approach in which science producers and users from multiple disciplines work collaboratively to co-develop and deliver ecological research that addresses management and conservation issues. Avian conservation naturally lends itself to translational ecology because birds are well studied, typically widespread, often exhibit migratory behaviors transcending geopolitical boundaries, and necessitate coordinated conservation efforts to accommodate resource and habitat needs across the full annual cycle. In this perspective, we highlight several case studies from bird conservation practitioners and the ornithological and conservation social sciences exemplifying the 6 core translational ecology principles introduced in previous studies: collaboration, engagement, commitment, communication, process, and decision-framing. We demonstrate that following translational approaches can lead to improved conservation decision-making and delivery of outcomes via co-development of research and products that are accessible to broader audiences and applicable to specific management decisions (e.g., policy briefs and decision-support tools). We also identify key challenges faced during scientific producer–user engagement, potential tactics for overcoming these challenges, and lessons learned for overcoming the research-implementation gap. Finally, we recommend strategies for building a stronger translational ecology culture to further improve the integration of these principles into avian conservation decisions. By embracing translational ecology, avian conservationists and ornithologists can be well positioned to ensure that future management decisions are scientifically informed and that scientific research is sufficiently relevant to managers. Ultimately, such teamwork can help close the research-implementation gap in the conservation sciences during a time when environmental issues are threatening avian communities and their habitats at exceptional rates and at broadening spatial scales worldwide.

Ornithological Applications↗
USGS2007

Research Furthers Conservation of Grand Canyon Sandbars

Grand Canyon National Park lies approximately 25 km (15 mi) down-river from Glen Canyon Dam, which was built on the Colorado River just south of the Arizona-Utah border in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Before the dam began to regulate the Colorado River in 1963, the river carried such large quantities of red sediment, for which the Southwest is famous, that the Spanish named the river the Rio Colorado, or 'red river'. Today, the Colorado River usually runs clear below Glen Canyon Dam because the dam nearly eliminates the main-channel sand supply. The daily and seasonal flows of the river were also altered by the dam. These changes have disrupted the sedimentary processes that create and maintain Grand Canyon sandbars. Throughout Grand Canyon, sandbars create habitat for native plants and animals, supply camping beaches for river runners and hikers, and provide sediment needed to protect archaeological resources from weathering and erosion. Maintenance of sandbars in the Colorado River ecosystem, the river corridor that stretches from the dam to the western boundary of Grand Canyon National Park, is a goal of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. The program is a federally authorized initiative to ensure that the mandates of the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 are met through advances in information and resource management. The U.S. Geological Survey's Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center has responsibility for scientific monitoring and research efforts for the program. Extensive research and monitoring during the past decade have resulted in the identification of possible alternatives for operating Glen Canyon Dam that hold new potential for the conservation of sand resources.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2015

Looking beyond rare species as umbrella species: Northern Bobwhites ( Colinus virginianus ) and conservation of grassland and shrubland birds

Changes in land use and land cover throughout the eastern half of North America have caused substantial declines in populations of birds that rely on grassland and shrubland vegetation types, including socially and economically important game birds such as the Northern Bobwhite ( Colinus virginianus ; hereafter bobwhites). As much attention is focused on habitat management and restoration for bobwhites, they may act as an umbrella species for other bird species with similar habitat requirements. We quantified the relationship of bobwhites to the overall bird community and evaluated the potential for bobwhites to act as an umbrella species for grassland and shrubland birds. We monitored bobwhite presence and bird community composition within 31 sample units on selected private lands in the south-central United States from 2009 to 2011. Bobwhites were strongly associated with other grassland and shrubland birds and were a significant positive predictor for 9 species. Seven of these, including Bell's Vireo ( Vireo bell ), Dicksissel ( Spiza americana ), and Grasshopper Sparrow ( Ammodramus savannarum ), are listed as species of conservation concern. Species richness and occupancy probability of grassland and shrubland birds were higher relative to the overall bird community in sample units occupied by bobwhites. Our results show that bobwhites can act as an umbrella species for grassland and shrubland birds, although the specific species in any given situation will depend on region and management objectives. These results suggest that efficiency in conservation funding can be increased by using public interest in popular game species to leverage resources to meet multiple conservation objectives.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2024

Evaluating the sagebrush conservation design through the lens of a sagebrush indicator species

Sagebrush ecosystems support a suite of unique species such as the emblematic greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ; sage-grouse) but are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic stressors such as annual grass invasion, conifer encroachment, altered wildfire regimes, and land use change. We examined the ability of an ecosystem-based framework for sagebrush conservation, the sagebrush conservation design (SCD) strategy, and the associated model of sagebrush ecological integrity (SEI), to identify and rank priority habitats for sage-grouse, a sagebrush indicator species. We compared sage-grouse population trends from 1996–2021 across the three ranked SEI categories. We then modeled those trends directly as a function of the same landcover predictors underlying SEI, used the median trend estimates to recategorize the sage-grouse’s range, and used spatial correlation methods to compare our sage-grouse performance categories with those of SEI. Finally, we compared the sage-grouse condition categories, predicted by our landcover-based model, to empirical trends derived from population count data. We found that the SCD and SEI were effective tools for identifying and ranking priority habitats for sage-grouse. Population trends were stable in the core areas identified by SEI but declining in the lower (i.e., growth and other) condition categories. As a result, core areas encompassed an increasingly larger share of the total sage-grouse population in a disproportionately smaller area. Our model supports the general functional relationships between landcover and sage-grouse performance suggested by SEI. We found strong spatial congruence between our categories of predicted sage-grouse population performance, the condition categories of SEI, and empirical trends derived from population count data. Our analysis demonstrates that proactive ecosystem-based approaches to the conservation of the sagebrush biome can help optimize the return on limited conservation resources and benefits for sagebrush obligate species and help reduce some of the real and perceived conflicts inherent in single-species management.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, ↗
USGS2018

Using the value of information to improve conservation decision making

Conservation decisions are challenging, not only because they often involve difficult conflicts among outcomes that people value, but because our understanding of the natural world and our effects on it is fraught with uncertainty. Value of Information (VoI) methods provide an approach for understanding and managing uncertainty from the standpoint of the decision maker. These methods are commonly used in other fields (e.g., economics, public health) and are increasingly used in biodiversity conservation. This decision analytical approach can identify the best management alternative to select where the effectiveness of interventions is uncertain, and can help to decide when to act and when to delay action until after further research. We review the use of VoI in the environmental domain, reflect on the need for greater uptake of VoI, particularly for strategic conservation planning, and suggest promising areas for new research. We also suggest common reporting standards as a means of increasing the leverage of this powerful tool. The environmental science, ecology and biodiversity categories of the Web of Knowledge were searched using the terms ‘Value of Information,’ ‘Expected Value of Perfect Information,’ and the abbreviation ‘EVPI.’ Google Scholar was searched with the same terms, and additionally the terms decision and biology, biodiversity conservation, fish, or ecology. We identified 1225 papers from these searches. Included studies were limited to those that show an application of VoI in biodiversity conservation rather than simply describing the method. All examples of use of VOI were summarised regarding the application of VoI, the management objectives, the uncertainties, models used, how the objectives were measured, and the type of VoI. While the use of VoI appears to be on the increase in biodiversity conservation, the reporting of results is highly variable, which can make it difficult to understand the decision context and which uncertainties were considered. Moreover, it was unclear if, and how, the papers informed management and policy interventions, which is why we suggest a range of reporting standards that would aid the use of VoI. The use of VoI in conservation settings is at an early stage. There are opportunities for broader applications, not only for species-focussed management problems, but also for setting local or global research priorities for biodiversity conservation, making funding decisions, or designing or improving protected area networks and management. The long-term benefits of applying VoI methods to biodiversity conservation include a more structured and decision-focused allocation of resources to research.

Biological Reviews↗
USGS1980

Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Caribbean region

The Caribbean Region consists of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (8,990 km 2 (square kilometers)) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (350 km 2 ). The mean annual precipitation varies locally from a high of 5,000 mm (millimeters) to a low of 730 mm. Maximum precipitation occurs within the peaks of Sierra de Luquillo, and minimum precipitation occurs along the windward parts of the smaller islands and in southwestern Puerto Rico, which lies in a rain shadow. The annual average precipitation is 1,800 mm in Puerto Rico and 1,061 mm in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Of this amount 1,130 mm in Puerto Rico and 990 mm in the U.S. Virgin Islands are lost to evapotranspiration. Aquifers constitute a valuable resource in the Caribbean Region. In Puerto Rico, ground-water withdrawals supply about 38 percent of the total water requirements, whereas in the U.S. Virgin Islands they supply 10 percent. Of the ground-water withdrawal of 350 hm 3 /yr (cubic hectometers per year) in Puerto Rico, 54 percent is used for irrigation, 29 percent is used by industry, and 17 percent is used for public water supply. Ground-water withdrawal in the U.S. Virgin Islands is about 1.9 hm 3 /yr and is almost equally distributed between public supply and privately owned wells. Based on past trends and future economic expectations in the region, estimates are that by 1985 ground-water pumpage in Puerto Rico will be about 426 hm 3 /yr with additional future development potential; U.S. Virgin Islands pumpage may amount to 4.5 hm 3 /yr, which is the estimated maximum sustained yield of all aquifers under natural recharge conditions. Most large ground-water developments in Puerto Rico have been in the North Coast and South Coast ground-water provinces. The North Coast province contains the island's most productive aquifer, which was virtually undeveloped until 1968, when an artesian system having a 150-meter head was tapped. Since then, the artesian aquifer has undergone rapid development for industrial water supply. The extent of the artesian system is unknown, but it has been tapped within the Montebello Limestone Member of the Cibao Formation and in the upper part of the Lares Limestone. The south-coast aquifer consists of deep alluvial deposits. This aquifer has been extensively developed for irrigation and industrial water supply and can sustain only minor future development under present water-management conditions. In the U.S. Virgin Islands the most extensive aquifer is fragmented igneous rock, but the most productive aquifers are the marl and alluvial deposits of central St. Croix. Although yields from wells in central St. Croix are low (less than 6.3 liters per second), the aquifer provides about 0.86 hm 3 /yr to public water-supply wells and 0.54 hm 3 /yr to private wells. Future development within this aquifer could probably produce an additional 1.0 hm 3 /yr under natural infiltration conditions. Ground-water resources will continue to be important within the region. In order to meet future needs, it is necessary that hydrologic principles be applied in managing the total water resource. Optimal use of the water resources can be accomplished through conjunctive use of surface and ground waters and through conservation practices. Optimal use may involve artificial recharge, ground-water salvage, saline-ground-water mining, use of seawater, desalination of saline ground water, waste-water reuse, and use of underground space for temporary storage of wastes, which could otherwise contaminate valuable water supplies.

Professional Paper↗
USGS2015

Introduction

This is the third iteration of the National Wildlife Health Center's (NWHC) field guide developed primarily to assist field managers and biologists address diseases they encounter. By itself, the first iteration, “Field Guide of Wildlife Diseases: General Field Procedures and Diseases of Migratory Birds,” was simply another addition to an increasing array of North American field guides and other publications focusing on disease in free-ranging wildlife populations. Collectively, those publications were reflecting the ongoing transition in the convergence of wildlife management and wildlife disease as foundational components within the structure of wildlife conservation as a social enterprise serving the stewardship of our wildlife resources. For context, it is useful to consider those publications relative to a timeline of milestones involving the evolution of wildlife conservation in North America.

Techniques and Methods↗
USGS2024

Innovation in climate adaptation: Harnessing innovation for effective biodiversity and ecosystem adaptation

Climate change poses growing risks to species, ecosystems, and people, and is challenging many of the assumptions that underpin modern conservation practice. As climate impacts accelerate, conventional conservation approaches are being compromised and losing their effectiveness. As a result, there is an urgent need to not only center climate adaptation in conservation policy and practice, but for adaptation responses to be bolder and more innovative. Innovation in Climate Adaptation is designed to address this need by promoting creativity and innovation in the practice of climate adaptation for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. The guide is not about promoting innovation for the sake of innovation; rather, it is intended to help policymakers, researchers, and resource managers harness the power of innovation to achieve more effective adaptation outcomes.

Report↗
USGS2024

Stopover population estimate and migration ecology of Red Knots C. c. rufa at Delaware Bay, USA, 2024

Red Knots ( Calidris canutus rufa ) stop at Delaware Bay on the mid-Atlantic coast of North America during northward migration to feed on eggs of horseshoe crabs ( Limulus polyphemus ). Horseshoe crabs have been harvested for use as bait in eel ( Anguilla rostrata ) and whelk ( Busycotypus canaliculatus and Busycon carica ) fisheries since at least 1990. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the number of Red Knots counted during aerial surveys at Delaware Bay declined, leading to conservation concern for Red Knots and shorebirds at Delaware Bay. In 2013, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission began using an Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) framework to manage the harvest of horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay region. The objective of the ARM framework is to manage sustainable harvest of Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs while maintaining ecosystem integrity and supporting Red Knot recovery with adequate stopover habitat. The ARM framework thus requires annual estimates of horseshoe crab population size and Red Knot stopover population size to recommend annual harvest quotas. We estimated the passage population of Red Knots at Delaware Bay in 2024 using a mark-recapture-resight investigation. We used a Bayesian analysis of a Jolly-Seber model, which accounts for turnover in the population and the probability of detection during surveys. The estimated passage population size in 2024 was 46,127 (95% credible interval: 39,286–57,799), an increase from 2023 (39,361 [33,724–47,556]). Since 2019, the stopover population has fluctuated between approximately 39,000 and 46,000, and appears stable given the broad overlap in the confidence intervals of the annual population estimates. The 2024 Red Knot stopover population estimate will inform decision making in the next horseshoe crab management cycle of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Delaware, New Jersey↗
USGS2002

Wildlife disease in the Colorado Delta as an indicator of ecosystem health

Ecosystem health and management are relatively new paradigms for environmental management (Costanza et al., 1992) and will be continually redefined and reevaluated relative to their purpose and utility in serving human society (Costanza et al., 1992; Sutter, 1993; Grumbine, 1994; Lackey, 1998, 1999). The stimulus for ecosystem management is often associated with sustaining or restoring ecosystem health to provide values sought by humans (Costanza et al., 1992). We accept the concepts of ecosystem health and management as useful precepts. However, we argue that the orientation in serving human values often has resulted in inadequate attention being given to nonhuman species. The need to address ecosystem health for the benefit of all species that share Planet Earth is noted by Merchant (1997). This humanistic viewpoint also has economic benefits that are part of the wealth that we will pass on to future generations (Pulliam, 1995). Despite the viewpoints just noted, disease occurrence in wildlife receives inadequate consideration with regard to perspectives of ecosystem health and as a focus for ecosystem management. Evidence for this view is the limited resources allocated for wildlife disease programs and prevention efforts, and persistent attitudes within the wildlife conservation community that disease is a “natural event,” not influenced by environmental conditions or anthropogenic insults.

California↗
USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: 2011 annual report

This is the fourth report produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) to detail annual work activities. In FY2011, there were 37 ongoing, completed, or new projects conducted under the five major multi-disciplinary science and technical-assistance activities: (1) Baseline Synthesis, (2) Targeted Monitoring and Research, (3) Data and Information Management, (4) Integration and Coordination, and (5) Decisionmaking and Evaluation. The four new work activities were (1) development of the Western Energy Citation Clearinghouse, a Web-based energy-resource database of references for literature and on-line resources focused on energy development and its effects on natural resources; (2) a study to support the Sublette County Conservation District in ascertaining potential water-quality impacts to the New Fork River from energy development in the Pinedale Anticline Project Area; (3) a study to test the efficacy of blending high-frequency temporal data provided by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors and high-resolution Landsat data for providing the fine-resolution data required to evaluate habitat responses to management activities at the landscape level; and (4) a study to examine the seasonal water chemistry of Muddy Creek, including documenting salinity patterns and providing a baseline for assessing potential effects of energy and other development on water quality in the Muddy Creek watershed. Two work activities were completed in FY2011: (1) the assessment of rancher perceptions of energy development in Southwest Wyoming and (2) mapping aspen stands and conifer encroachment using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis for effectiveness monitoring. The USGS continued to compile data, develop geospatial products, and upgrade Web-based products in support of both individual and overall WLCI efforts, including (1) ranking and prioritizing proposed conservation projects, (2) developing the WLCI integrated assessment, (3) developing the WLCI 5-year Conservation Action Plan, and (4) continuing to upgrade the content and improve the functionality of the WLCI Web site. For the WLCI FY2012 annual report, a decision was made to greatly reduce the overall length of the annual report, which will be accomplished by simplifying the report format and focusing on the take-home messages of each work activity for WLCI partners.

Wyoming↗
USGS1996

U.S. Geological Survey Programs in Minnesota

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps, describes, and seeks to understand Minnesota's mineral, water, and biological resources. The USGS is known for impartial data collection and data interpretation that enable resource planners and others to make informed decisions. Today's issues are more pressing than ever - understanding natural hazards to minimize their effects on life and property, the continuing need for mineral- and water-resource development, and understanding the effects of human activities on water resources. As the Nation's leading natural-science agency, the USGS works with other Federal agencies and State and local agencies in addressing these issues. Watershed districts; soil- and water-conservation districts; Tribal governments; mining industries; educators; city, county, regional, State, and Federal planning agencies; consulting firms; crop consultants; farmers; and other private citizens use USGS maps, interpretive reports, and data to manage Minnesota's resources.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2013

Seventy-five years of science—The U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center

As of January 2010, 75 years have elapsed since Dr. Frederic Fish initiated the pioneering research program that would evolve into today’s Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC). Fish began his research working alone in the basement of the recently opened Fisheries Biological Laboratory on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington. WFRC’s research began under the aegis of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and ends its first 75 years as part of the U.S. Geological Survey with a staff of more than 150 biologists and support personnel and a heritage of fundamental research that has made important contributions to our understanding of the biology and ecology of the economically important fish and fish populations of the Nation. Although the current staff may rarely stop to think about it, WFRC’s antecedents extend many years into the past and are intimately involved with the history of fisheries conservation in the Western United States. Thus, WFRC Director Lyman Thorsteinson asked me to write the story of this laboratory “while there are still a few of you around who were here for some of the earlier years” to document the rich history and culture of WFRC by recognizing its many famous scientists and their achievements. This historyalso would help document WFRC’s research ‘footprint’ in the Western United States and its strategic directions. Center Director Thorsteinson concluded that WFRC’s heritage told by an emeritus scientist also would add a texture of legitimacy based on personal knowledge that will all-to-soon be lost to the WFRC and to the USGS. The WFRC story is important for the future as well as for historical reasons. It describes how we got to the place we are today by documenting the origin, original mission, and our evolving role in response to the constantly changing technical information requirements of new environmental legislation and organizational decision-making. The WFRC research program owes its existence to the policy requirements of Federal conservation legislation originating with the construction of Grand Coulee Dam in 1933. The research program was shaped by laws enacted in subsequent years such as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972), National Environmental Policy Act (1973), Endangered Species Act (1974), and Northwest Power Planning Act (1980), to name only a few. The WFRC has not been constrained by direct management or regulatory responsibility for a particular fishery (such as providing sustainable catch limits data to a resource management structure). Thus, WFRC has been able to concentrate on scientific pursuits and information needs required by contemporary environmental legislation. Over the years, we have pioneered in several important areas of fisheries research including the diagnoses and control of diseases in economically important fish, effects of environmental alterations on the physiological quality and survival of Pacific salmon released from federal mitigation hatcheries, applications in biotelemetry, and the bioenergetics of predator-prey interactions in the Columbia River. The WFRC of today is a widely distributed organization in the Western United States. Knowledge of the historical connections and accomplishments of our predecessors is important beyond the sense of pride and unity it instills in the WFRC family of today. For example, a discerning reader will note the evolution of WFRC’s research from a single disciplinary focus (early era—hatchery disease problems), to multiple disciplines (middle to late era—species, populations, habitats; threatened and endangered species), to the present era (multidisciplinary and with increasing process focus). For the benefit of the current WFRC staff, more emphasis has been placed on the early years rather than on the present day because people are quite naturally more familiar with the recent past than with the research done during the first decades of WFRC’s existence. By every rational measure, the WFRC has evolved into a fisheries research organization well positioned to provide the biological information needed to support the continued conservation and management of our Nation’s living aquatic natural resources. The high standard of excellence that connects WFRC’s past to our present research program provides a firm foundation on which to base the work yet to be done. In another 75 years, WFRC will undoubtedly be a very different place than it is today, but its evolution will be forever rooted in the story of the research and of the people related here. More about the diverse fisheries research projects WFRC scientists are conducting today is available at WFRC’s website: http://wfrc.usgs.gov/.

Washington↗