Northwest Habitat/ Biodiversity Metrics:

OakFloodplain

Sagebrush/Sage Grouse

Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

Metrics

Sagebrush/ Sage Grouse Floodplai

n

Oak

• Conservation priorities • Potential for regulation (sage

grouse) • Priority for incentive programs

Defenders of Wildlife

How habitats were selected

• Adamus Resource Assessment

• Willamette Partnership facilitation

• Expert advisors met 3 times

• Field testing at 5+ sites • Extensive checking of

calculators• Development of user’s

guides

Defenders of Wildlife

Process for building metrics

Defenders of Wildlife

Level of involvementCapture everything

PrecisionPracticalitySpeedCost

Defenders of Wildlife

Our Partners

American Bird Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy

Willamette University

Heritage Seedlings

U.S. Forest Service

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

Zena Timber

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Lost Lagoon Farm

Yamhill Co. District Conservationist

Oregon Institute for Natural Resources

Kenagy Farm

Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District

Columbia Land Trust

Natural Resource Conservation Service

Wildwood, Mahonia

McKenzie Land Trust

Greenbelt Land Trust

Polk County Conservationist

Oregon State University

Willamette Partnership

Defenders of Wildlife

Oak

Defenders of Wildlife

FloodplainAmerican Bird Conservancy

City of Yakima Washington

The Nature Conservancy

U.S. Forest Service

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

University of Oregon

Oregon Institute for Natural Resources

Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District

Natural Resource Conservation Service

Wildwood, Mahonia

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of Environmental Quality

Freshwater Trust

Greenbelt Land Trust

McKenzie Land Trust

Columbia Land Trust

Oregon State University

Willamette University

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Zena Timber

Lost Lagoon Farm

Kenagy Farm

Willamette Partnership

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush/sage grouseEcotrust

The Nature Conservancy

U.S.D.A. Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Western Governors Association, Columbia Plateau Project

Ecosystem Management Research Institute

Oregon State University Extension Service

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Oregon State University Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management

Harney County Watershed Council

Bureau of Land Management

Environmental Defense Fund

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Geological Survey

Willamette Partnership

• Rapid assessments• Ecological

baseline• Impact of

development• Ecological

improvement• Measure outcomes• Mitigation

programs Defenders of Wildlife

How the metrics can be used

• Measuring Up categories–Context–Vegetation–Species–Abiotic–Practices–Risk

Defenders of Wildlife

What the metrics measure

Defenders of Wildlife

Context• Priority conservation area

• Connectivity

• Compatible neighbors

Defenders of Wildlife

Vegetation• Amount of natural land cover

• Forest canopy

• Composition

• Invasive species

Defenders of Wildlife

Special status animal & plant species

Defenders of Wildlife

Abiotic• Proximity to water

• Area of site flooded

Defenders of Wildlife

Practices• Feasibility of burning

• Adaptive management

Defenders of Wildlife

Risk• Proximity to roads

• Influence of water diversions

• Structures and development

Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush/Sage Grouse Habitat Metric

Defenders of Wildlife

• Consult with landowner• Research project site• Aerial image, map retrieval• Designation of project site boundaries

• Consult with landowner• Research project site• Aerial image, map retrieval• Designation of project site

boundaries

Sagebrush metric: In the office

• Gather transect data

• Revise answers as necessary

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush metric: At the project site

Transfer field data to calculator

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush metric: Back at the office

Defenders of Wildlife

Calculator• Excel workbook:

– Cover page– Data entry– Species

information– Field forms

• Scores automatically calculated

• Error checks• Score = % optimum

habitat quality

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush metric: Final scores

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush metric: Final scores

Defenders of Wildlife

Sagebrush final score vs.sage grouse final score

• Sage grouse indicator (leks) not in sagebrush score

• Sensitive species not in sage grouse score

• Provide detailed site-level biological inventories

• Support landscape-scale conservation planning decisions

Defenders of Wildlife

What the metrics do not do

• Collaborative, adaptive management

• Integrated team approach to calculator development

• Extensive review• More field testing• More time to

develop• Economies of

scale

Defenders of Wildlife

Lessons learned

• Consistent national framework?

• Organized by plant communities?

• Habitats, species, or both?

• Which habitats, species, why, and how many?

Defenders of Wildlife

What’s next?

Cost effectiveUniformityEasy to use

Consistent format, but flexible for different

habitats/speciesDefenders of Wildlife

Benefits of a metrics framework

• Who develops, manages suite of metrics?

• How to connect to broader scale priorities?

• How to apply across jurisdictions and ownerships?

• Flexibility for specific ecosystems, program needs?

• Initial and long term funding? Defenders of Wildlife

Challenges remain

• Partnership agreement • Reach agreement on overall

structure for habitat types• Assemble a team –

public/private partnership • Secure funding from multiple

sources • Identify a management

structure – outside government?

Defenders of Wildlife

Building a consistent framework

Marketplace for Nature:

New portal in theConservation Registry

Defenders of Wildlife

Conservation Registry: 7 state portals, 12 partner portals, 100,000 projects

www.conservationregistry.org

Conservation Registry:Home of the National Conservation Easement Database

nced.conservationregistry.org

Conservation Registry:Showing projects relative to priorities

nced.conservationregistry.org

marketplace.conservationregistry.org

Marketplace for Nature portal

Habitat metrics: user’s guides & calculators

New data fields for marketplace projects

Search terms: Biodiversity, Wetlands, Pollinators, Carbon

Project detail pages: targeted ecosystem services, credit summary

Defenders of Wildlife

Questions?

Sara VickermanDefenders of Wildlife

503-697-3222svickerman@defenders.org

www.conservationregsitry.org

Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

Questions?

Sara VickermanDefenders of Wildlife

503-697-3222svickerman@defenders.org

www.conservationregsitry.org

Defenders of Wildlife