CBI is supporting the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in its work to develop a strategic, comprehensive approach for conducting inventory, monitoring, and assessments that respond to the priorities of the whole agency instead of individual or programmatic needs. Many of today’s management decisions require a landscape approach to acquiring and analyzing information about forests and rangelands. Therefore an effective inventory, monitoring and assessment system requires working across organizational boundaries to determine common goals, avoid duplication and build on common information needs. CBI will provide support to assess existing data collection, management and storage methods for the USFS Region 8 and make recommendations regarding the relationship agency data has with current decision support processes.
While the U.S. Forest Service National Forest Review projects are focused at the individual Forest level, the Census of Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment Activities is focused on Region 8, which encompasses 15 Forests and covers 13 states in the southeastern United States.
Both land and water resources are essential to agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley and other Mediterranean climates in California. These resources are under pressure from a variety of factors that have the potential to significantly affect the food production capacity of a region that contributes importantly to the food security of the state, nation and the world. The most significant challenges appear to be climate change, especially its impact on water supplies, environmental factors such as in-stream water needs, soil impairment, and urban development.
American Farmland Trust has partnered with the Conservation Biology Institute to undertake a spatial analysis to identify agricultural areas that are most at risk due to these challenges. Understanding how and where water supply shortages, soil impairment, urban growth or climatic changes may impact agriculture will contribute to the discussion of strategies for agricultural adaptation and conservation in the Valley.
This project will build on the successful effort led by CBI to identify areas where large-scale solar energy projects sited in the Valley would pose the least conflict to agricultural and environmental values (A Path Forward). As with the solar project, spatial analysis will occur at a broad Valley wide level, but with a finer grained analysis of at least two counties. A number of scenarios, representing different assumptions about physical and policy trends, will be done to further enrich our understanding of the future prospects of Valley agriculture. Input from technical experts and regional stakeholders will be sought throughout the process to help determine how to rank resource values and risks, and to help formulate future scenarios. We are now actively recruiting stakeholders to participate in the process.
The ultimate goal of the project is to encourage and inform a purposeful regional conversation about strategies that will be needed to meet the land and water resource management challenges and, thus, assure a productive and prosperous future for San Joaquin Valley agriculture.
CBI is assisting the US Forest Service, Region 1, with reconciling habitat conservation efforts with long-term forest resiliency planning in the northern Rocky Mountains. Partners include the Southwest Crown Collaborative, Montana State University, and the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station. Conceptual deliverables include a framework for integrating the habitat requirements of threatened species into a forest restoration plan that recognizes the dynamic nature of forest ecosystems and the importance of large-scale ecological processes. More definitive deliverables include an analysis of how habitat composition and configuration has changed over the past 90 to 100 years, a plan for restoring the dynamic nature of forests at the watershed scale, and analytical tools to facilitate similar efforts in other areas.
This effort reflects CBI’s commitment to assisting in the restoration of western public lands, recognizing the importance of promoting resilient forests in the face of a changing climate, and the conservation of native biodiversity. Future implications would include helping federal agencies such as the Forest Service transition into an analytical model that views habitat as a critical but dynamic component of forest planning, one the requires intact, large-scale ecological processes for long-term maintenance.
Supported by the California Wildlife Conservation Board, CBI will be working closely with the Strategic Growth Council, UC Davis, and other agency staff to conduct a Regional Conservation Assessment (RCA) for two pilot areas in the state – Mojave Desert and Modoc Plateau – and build an easy-to-use, online assessment tool to evaluate potential conservation investments based on a set of standards developed by the Integrated Regional Conservation and Development program (IRCAD). RCAs are designed to provide a standardized and current assessment of the biological values and ecological conditions within each ecoregion in California serving as the important context to carry out more effective and ecologically sensitive development in the state. This project builds upon existing investment through the California Energy Commission’s statewide renewable energy planning efforts.
The Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Conservation Assessment and Strategy is multi-agency effort led by CBI to conserve and recover an imperiled population of Pacific fisher (Pekania pennanti) in the southern Sierra Nevada in California. Beginning in 2007, the project was originally a voluntary collaboration amongst agencies sharing an interest in conserving fishers. However, the southern Sierra Nevada “distinct population” of fishers was listed as Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2020, and the project is therefore being restructured to better align with the regulatory process that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must follow to develop an endangered species recovery plan.
Since 2007, CBI has supported the project with scientific analyses and led the effort that produced a comprehensive state-of-the-science assessment in 2015 (Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Conservation Assessment) and a draft conservation strategy in 2016 (Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Conservation Strategy). However, dramatic changes in fisher habitat due to historic drought and extreme wildfire impacts, coupled with the listing of the population as Endangered in 2020, have necessitated a complete re-evaluation of the species’ status and new approaches for conserving and recovering the population. In support, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) provided CBI with a “Section 6” grant in June 2024 to guide this next phase of planning.
Previous Southern Sierra Fisher Conservation Assessments and Strategies
The 2015 Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Conservation Assessment and 2016 Southern Sierra Nevada Fisher Conservation Strategy were completed with funding provided by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), USDA Forest Service (Pacific Southwest Region), Resources Legacy Fund, and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The Assessment summarized the best available scientific information on fishers and their habitats in the area at that time, including population size, distribution, and trends; ecology; habitat requirements across multiple spatial scales (from the population or landscape scale to the scale of individual denning or resting structures); and threats to fishers and their habitat. The 2016 Conservation Strategy used this information to provide guidance for reducing threats and increasing the quality and resiliency of fisher habitat. It was compatible with diverse agency missions, objectives, and legal requirements, meeting the needs of multiple agencies with an interest in fisher conservation and land management in the Sierra Nevada.
A New Approach
Now, beginning in 2024, CBI will be working with partners to adapt and update the information in all of the previous products with the latest scientific information and context. This current approach will closely align with new USFWS guidance for their statutorily mandated Endangered Species Recovery Planning process. In keeping with this guidance, the project will produce a new Species Status Assessment (SSA), a Recovery Plan, and a Recovery Implementation Strategy (RIS) using the best available scientific information. More information on the USFWS recovery planning process can be found at Recovery Planning Implementation.
For more information about this effort, please contact Wayne Spencer, wdspencer@consbio.org, or Deanne DiPietro deanne.dipietro@consbio.org.
Conserved lands in southern San Diego County form the cornerstone of the San Diego Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) network. This region supports the largest expanse of remaining coastal habitats in southern California—coastal sage scrub, maritime succulent scrub, chaparral, riparian woodlands, vernal pools, and grasslands. Intact landscapes are critical to genetic interchange within plant and animal populations and allow dispersal and recolonization of new areas. Large landscapes that span elevational gradients, such as this core area in south San Diego County, also enable populations to shift in response to environmental and land use changes.
State Route 94 (SR-94) cuts through the heart of this core area, potentially impeding wildlife movement across otherwise intact landscapes. New residential development and a casino under construction in Jamul will increase traffic and potentially impact the wildlife value and connectivity of adjacent conserved lands. Proposed road improvements associated with these new land uses provide an opportunity to mitigate the potential barrier effects of SR-94. Scientific literature suggests that strategically-placed wildlife fencing along roads, combined with effective wildlife crossing areas (e.g., undercrossings, overcrossings, bridges) are the most effective means of influencing animal behavior and directing animal movement, thereby reducing roadkill, enhancing connectivity, and improving traffic safety.
The purpose of this document is to provide available background information and connectivity objectives for multiple taxa that use this area and to identify potential infrastructure examples that could improve connectivity across the south county preserves. This document describes land uses, vegetation communities, and existing infrastructure along 12 miles of SR-94 and identifies potential locations, by road segment, where enhancements to existing undercrossings and additional fencing could facilitate wildlife movement across conserved lands. Because there are little wildlife movement data for this area, we outline wildlife movement studies and systematic collection of roadkill data that should begin now to inform and refine the actual design and placement of wildlife fencing and crossing structures. Once implemented, post-construction monitoring should be conducted to ensure that the new infrastructure is functional and cost-effective.
CBI and AECOM worked with the San Diego Management and Monitoring Program (SDMMP) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – with oversight from the wildlife agencies – to develop preserve management plans that incorporate elements of the Management Strategic Plan for Conserved Lands in western San Diego County, related Strategic Plans for invasive species and wildlife connectivity, and any relevant regional habitat conservation subarea plans. These management plans serve as pilots for the standardized development of resource management plans by other land managers throughout the region. We developed plans for two preserve complexes: (1) the Southwest Otay Mesa preserve complex, which includes lands owned and managed by the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and (2) the Greater Crestridge Ecological Reserve Complex, which includes lands owned and managed by the Endangered Habitats Conservancy (EHC). The latter plan was finalized (including a detailed, 5-year budget) in 2017, updated with additional preserves in 2018, and is being implemented by EHC land managers.
Plan development differs from traditional approaches in that we conducted rapid assessments to identify threats that needed immediate management attention rather than comprehensive biological surveys. We also identified potentially-occurring biological resources, future survey needs, preserve-specific management priorities, SMART goals, objectives, and action items, and opportunities for coordinated management across preserve boundaries.
Funding for this project was through the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), with additional funding from the Endangered Habitats Conservancy to update the Greater Crestridge Ecological Reserve Complex Framework Resource Management Plan.
Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), CBI conducted an assessment of the risk to the bottomland hardwood/wetland forests of the US Southeast to the growing threat from the wood pellet industry largely to fuel power plants throughout the European Union (EU). The final report released by NRDC was entitled, “In the U.S. Southeast, Natural Forests are Being Felled to Send Fuels Overseas“.
This report details the threats facing Southeastern U.S. Forests, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, from the wood pellet industry, which has seen a 150 percent increase in wood pellet exports between 2012-2015. The report explains that 24 million acres of unprotected Southeastern forest lands are at risk and predicts that pellet manufacturing could increase to be twelve times larger than it currently is by 2020. For a one-hour webinar dedicated to this topic, see Bioenergy Threatens Wetland Forests of the US Southeast.