BLM LIBRARY BUREAU LAND MANAGEMENT OF SCIENCE STRATEGY 2* l JK '- « 870 .L3 L4 62 2008 c.3 ** «w~ /er: LakeForkof1 attrailheadtoSloansLakeinAmerican Basin, CO, BUREAU LAND MANAGEMENT OF STRATEGY SCIENCE 3 j Wntifc^M & ^ ^ ^ September 2008 2, Available from: Bureau of Land Management Printed Materials Services P.O. Box 25047 Denver, Colorado 80225-0047 P-427 BLM/RS/PL-00/001+1700 Contents Foreword iv Executive Summary v Introduction 1 The Role of Science in the Bureau of Land Management 3 Identifying the Bureau of Land Management's Science Needs 7 Communicating Science Needs and Sharing Results 10 Science Opportunities on the Public Lands 12 Implementation Concepts 14 Appendix. Identifying and Communicating the Bureau of Land Management's Science Needs 1 5 Bureau ofLand Management Science Strategy- Foreword Effectively managing our Nation's public lands requires the acquisition and application of accurate scientific information. This is increasingly important as we become more aware of the influences of human activities on the functioning of the natural systems that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been entrusted with managing in the interest of the American public. This and other guidance require and enable the Bureau to respond to changing ecological conditions, to provide a wide variety of products and services, and to maintain the health of the public lands. In this era of rapidly expanding knowledge and methodologies of predicting future environmental changes, it is critical to keep up with the state of knowledge in resource management. By making use of the most up-to-date and accurate science and technology and working with scientific and technical experts of other organizations, we will be able to do the bestjob of managing the land for its environmental scientific, social, and economic benefits. Our success in managing the public lands will ultimately be judged by the health and productivity of the public lands, the stewardship of their unique resources, and by the products and services received by the public who use them. We in the BLM are committed to using science to the maximum extent practicable and believe the process identified in this document will help us accomplish that goal. James Caswell Director, Bureau of Land Management September 2, 2008 Bureau oj I and Management Science Strategy Executive Summary This strategy is an update of a document prepared in 2000 to assist in the application of science to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) natural resource management programs nationwide. It outlines a process for obtaining and using the most relevant, up-to-date science available. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) Sec. 307 [43 U.S.C. 1737] (a) states, "The Secretary may conduct investigations, studies, and experiments, on his own initiative or in cooperation with others involving the management, protection, development, acquisition, and conveying of the public lands." Moreover, in Sec. 202 [43 U.S.C. 1712] (c) (2), the BLM is instructed, in its Land Use Planning, to "use a systematic interdisciplinary approach to achieve integrated consideration of physical, biological, economic, and other sciences." The National Environmental Policy Act also mandates a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to ensure an integrated use of natural and social sciences in planning and decision making. The Department of the Interior (DOI) Strategic Plan points out that we "have never had a greater need for accurate and timely science-based information than today," and that "science lies at the foundation of our programs." This strategy discusses methods of identification of science needs from field office-specific to the use of the DOI's Strategic Plan, and the prioritization of research and linkage to the budget process by the Science Committee. Science needs are addressed by Bureau field personnel and senior subject matter experts, as well as external research providers. The State science coordinators and the National Operations Center Division of Resource Services have roles in tracking funded research through to completion, including the synthesis of information and assurance that science information is integrated into program guidance and procedures. Although inventory, monitoring, and assessment applications are critical science activities that must be a part of any overall science program and will be part of the responsibility of the Science Committee, they are not addressed specifically in this strategy, as they are being developed through a separate effort. Bureau ofLand Management Science Strategy Introduction The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Science Strategy sets forth an overall approach to science with four primary objectives: • delineate the central role of science in BLM decision making and public land management; • establish a clear process for identifying science needs and priorities and ensure that those needs are reflected in the Bureau's budget and planning processes; • provide a mechanism for communicating the Bureau's science needs, sharing its science and results, and highlighting its science opportunities on the BLM-managed public lands; and • ensure that the scientific information applied by the BLM in its management programs is current and meets the Department of the Interior's (DOI) requirements for quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity. In addition to the efforts conducted by Bureau personnel, the Bureau seeks science information and support each year from external science providers both within and outside the Federal government. The Bureau also receives many requests from external science providers to communicate its science needs. Historically, the BLM has communicated these needs through individual programs rather than a single, coordinated Bureau-wide response. The preparation of a BLM Science Strategy was proposed by the BLM Science Coordination Committee in Fiscal Year (FY) 1999. Committee members recognized the Bureau's need for a unified, comprehensive science strategy that would enable the Bureau to proactively identify, prioritize, and communicate its short-term and long-term science needs. The Committee reported its findings to the BLM's Executive Leadership Team (ELT), which subsequently approved preparation of a strategy document. The Strategy was signed by Director Fry and issued September 26, 2000. Recently, under the Managing for Excellence initiative, the ELT reaffirmed the importance of a Science Strategy. Although science is central to the BLM resource management programs, this strategy clearly acknowledges that social and economic values, political factors, and statutory and regulatory requirements must be considered, along with scientific information, as the BLM managers make resource management decisions. This updated strategy calls for the identification and prioritization of national and regional science needs. Identification of these science needs will begin with issues identified in the Department's long-range Strategic Plan. Input from the State and Field Offices through the Executive Leadership Team, the Science Committee, field managers, and resource specialists Bureau ofLand Management Science Strategy will also play a key role. The early identification of or research providers. The BLM's definition of science the Bureau's science needs will allow those needs to encompasses social sciences as well as the earth be addressed in the Bureau's planning and budgeting (physical) sciences and biological sciences. activities. This strategy consists of five sections. The first The BLM's prioritization of science needs by the discusses the role of science in the BLM; statutory Science Committee is to be the primary tool for and regulatory mandates are outlined, and the communicating the Bureau's needs and for ensuring complex factors and interactions involved in decision that it acquires scientific information that is relevant, making are described. The second section sets focused, and timely. Annual revisions and updates forth a process for identifying the BLM's science are scheduled to provide adequate lead time for needs. The third section discusses how the BLM can the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau's other communicate its science needs to science providers research providers to use the information in their own and share scientific research or study results both planning and budgeting processes for those needs internally and externally. The fourth section describes that are to be met through outside sources. the many opportunities for scientific activities on the BLM's more than 255 million surface acres of public "Science" within the Bureau is often mistakenly lands, and the fifth section suggests an approach for thought of only as research. Science may be in implementing this strategy. The Science Strategy will the form of data, synthesis or interpretation of be augmented by an implementation plan that will data, resource inventories, assessments, resource describe procedures for putting the approved strategy monitoring, research reports and articles in credible into action. publications, or research results from Bureau projects Bureau oj Iand Management Science Strategy