Examples of Mid-Scale Displays

The following examples are organized by sections that match Steps 2 through 4 as outlined in Volume 1 of Ecosystem Review at the Subbasin Scale, August 1999.

Step 2 - Identifying Mid-Scale Issues

Examples in this section demonstrate methods that teams have used to develop issues for use in Subbasin Reviews, including some forms that were used to isolate basin issues that step down to the subbasin and to brainstorm other subbasin issues not identified at the basin scale.

Some examples display very detailed listings of findings from the broad scale that were found to be pertinent to a particular mid-scale review area, while other examples are documentation forms for issue identification. The example in which comparison of issues between the basin and subbasin is assigned out to individuals also is valuable as a work planning tool for teams.

Developing this aspect of the Subbasin Review is a critical early step in the process. These examples can show teams how to approach this area of work in a manner that is appropriate at the mid-scale level. It is very important that teams try to confine issue identification to what is important to focus on at this mid-scale. In a particular review area, issues appropriate at this scale may be few for one subject area but numerous and critical for another. Terrestrial and aquatic wildlife issues provide examples of cases where the effects for groups such as wide-ranging species cannot be clearly assessed at finer scales without the broader context provided by well-documented characterizations of habitat distribution and trends at the subbasin or broader scales.

2-1: Key Issues Identified by the Assessment Team - Coeur d'Alene River

A brief summary of focus issues stepped down from the basin to set the stage for mid-scale work on three subbasins within the Coeur d'Alene River Basin.

2-2: Issue Identification - Bully Creek

A comprehensive summary of broad-scale findings stepped down to primary and secondary issues for the subbasin. Illustrates a process for identifying relevant broad-scale issues, adding collaboratively-developed local issues, and consolidating them into manageable issue categories to focus the review process.

2-3: Issue Comparison Table - Upper Crooked River

A form that identifies links between basin-wide and subbasin issues and assigns core team member responsibilities.

2-4: Issues/Collaboration Questionnaire - Upper Crooked River

An example of a questionnaire used to solicit collaborative involvement as well as initial issue identification.

Step 3- Describing the Mid-Scale Character

This section is separated into the various functional component areas to provide some ideas on how work can be organized within those functions. Many of the displays in each section also have usefulness across several functions (for example, road density maps have broad uses for determining issues and concerns in a number of functional areas. Different specialists may provide characterizations for this section depending on team needs).

Verifying Pertinent Broad-scale Findings

3-1: Characterization Worksheet and Example Write-up - Upper Crooked River

A form used to evaluate basin issues and identify characteristics important to the subbasin. This worksheet is a valuable form to document characterization linkages between basin issues and the subbasin. The form is followed by an example write-up.

3-2: Specific Findings and Assessment Response Summary - S.F. Clearwater

An example of how basin findings were linked to the findings from mid-scale work.

General Physical Characteristics

3-3: Water Quality Limited Steams and Municipal Watersheds Map - S.F. Clearwater

A map example of how linear stream information was displayed at the subbasin scale for easy display and use.

3-4: Mining and Geology Map - S.F. Clearwater

A base information map displaying geology and mine locations.

3-5: Areas of High Erosion Hazard Map - S.F. Clearwater

Display of surface and substratum erosion hazard displayed in combination with each other.

3-6: Road Densities within Watersheds - Coeur d'Alene River

A map display of how a complex transportation network was transformed into a useful tool at the subbasin scale. An example of functional synthesis of detailed information.

3-7: Year of Latest Large Fire - St. Joe River

A format for displaying fire information history at the mid-scale.

3-8: Sensitive Land Type Associations - St. Joe River

A display, similar to example 3-5, to characterize sensitive land types for use in identifying high erosion risk landscapes. It shows the use of white space to imply low risk areas without mapping all land types within the area.

3-9: Stream Crossings Map - Rock Creek

This map provides a view of stream crossing patterns/densities within the review area. Depending on the accuracy of available GIS data, a similar map could be developed to highlight road segments within a set proximity of streams. Together, these maps could indicate areas for priority attention relative to risks to aquatic/riparian values.

Landscape Characteristics

3-10: Habitat Type Groups Vulnerable to Various Noxious Weeds - S.F. Clearwater

A table that displays noxious weeds and their association with various habitat type groups within a subbasin.

3-11: Fire Risk Map - S.F. Clearwater

Different from the fire history display, this map shows how fire risk was stratified into four areas of characterization for this issue.

3-12: Historic and Current Cover Types Chart - Coeur d'Alene River

A bar chart that displays changed conditions in the subbasin. May have application to more components than just the cover type information in this display.

3-13: Mountain Pine Beetle Hazard Map - St. Joe River

One aspect of forest health that allows for teams to better understand and assign risk considerations at the subbasin scale.

3-14: Changes in Forest Structure Table - St. Joe River

A matrix used to display changes in structural conditions. It adds the aspect of changes within and outside federal boundaries. Ability to display changed conditions across multiple ownerships is an important consideration for a number of issue areas. This provides context and relative importance of issue resolution on federal lands.

3-15: Rangeland Seral Stages Map - Little Salmon

Rangeland vegetation seral stages displayed at the mid-scale into four general categories.

3-16: Historic Fire Intensity Map - Little Salmon

Display that identifies fire intensity levels.

3-17: Ecological Reporting Unit Summary - S.F. Clearwater

A text example of how findings can be organized and reported out using an agreed-upon geographic subdivision. The display of ERUs here is only one of several ways this information could have been organized.

3-18: Current Condition Matrix - St. Joe River

Another form of information display that rates ecological issue conditions for each subwatershed (6th-field Hydrologic Unit Code) within the subbasin.

3-19: Sub-unit Summary Form & Example Writeup - Rock Creek

An example of a summary form that can create the initial documentation of the conditions within subdivisions.

Terrestrial Wildlife Characteristics

3-20: Carnivore Habitat Opportunity Areas Map - Coeur d'Alene River

This map represents a synthesis of wildlife security and habitat quality information to highlight potential priorities based on status, risks and opportunities for selected carnivores in the review area. Combining this map with the following example (3-21) would add further value to the synthesis process.

3-21: Areas Farther Than 1/4 Mile from a Road (Map) - Coeur d'Alene River

A summary of a number of wildlife condition factors affecting security. Combining this map with Map 3-20 above would add further value to the synthesis process.

Aquatic Characteristics

3-22: Bull Trout Habitat and Population Status Map - S.F. Clearwater

A method for displaying location-specific information for fish populations.

3-23: Summary of Riparian Conditions - S.F. Clearwater

A matrix display of a number of riparian conditions (status) grouped by ecological response units, which were the subdivisions used in this mid-scale work.

3-24: Watershed Condition Indicators - S.F. Clearwater

A table with a series of watershed condition (status) indicators grouped by watersheds within a subbasin. It is a useful tool for making overall watershed condition and risk classifications.

3-25: Watershed Condition Map - Rock Creek

A map with stratification of watershed conditions (status) followed by a description of the criteria used to assess watershed conditions.

3-26: Watershed Sensitivity Map - S.F. Clearwater

A stratification of watershed sensitivity (risk) at the mid-scale.

3-27: Rain on Snow Sensitivity Map - St. Joe

A map showing sensitivity (risk) of rain-on-snow events within the subbasin.

3-28: Road Density by Sensitive Land Type Association - Rock Creek

A synthesis map that displays road density conditions with sensitive (high risk) land types. An example of a case where integration of two elements may be more meaningful than separate displays. An effective aid in priority setting.

3-29: Fish Habitat Status Map - Bitterroot Valley

A map that shows risk categories for fish by 6^th-field watershed (subwatershed).

3-30: Steelhead Status - Little Salmon

A form of fish characterization that could be used where there is limited data.

3-31: Important Aquatic Habitat Conditions Map - Coeur d'Alene River

Synthesized information about fish that combines some areal displays with linear features that are also important to the characterization. Linear features can be difficult to display at this scale, but this example may be useful in several component areas.

Social and Economic Characteristics

3-32: Jobs in North Central Idaho Discussion & Chart - S.F. Clearwater

Narrative and a table display of job trends that can be useful in understanding the changed conditions in the area within and adjacent to the subbasin.

3-33: Grazing Capability Map - S.F. Clearwater

A useful characterization summary of detailed information for use at the mid-scale.

3-34: Wilderness, Roadless, W&S River, and Proposed RNAs Map - S.F. Clearwater

A combination of components that when displayed together show patterns and relationships (context) that would not be evident in individual displays.

3-35: Recreation Sense of Place Map - Coeur d'Alene River

A map display that shows current locations of recreation use. It can be useful in syntheses of biological, physical, and human resources and in setting priorities. It shows the relationship of recreation sense of place on federal land in relation to private land.

3-36: Scenic Integrity Classes - Bitterroot Valley

Mid-scale display of categories of scenic integrity that can be used for pattern evaluations.

Step 4 - Developing Integrated Priorities and Recommendations

This step brings together functional information in a series of displays that can be useful to managers of resource programs. This integration requires specialists to step out of their comfort zones to display relationships among a variety of resources that enhance agencies' abilities to meet multiple needs at multiple scales. Subbasin Review is not solely a technical process. A major premise of this guide is that all the greatest technical work will not lead to effective implementation unless intergovernmental partners can reach integrated priorities and recommendations leading to mutual commitments to pool resources to meet common goals. These examples may help.

Synthesis starts the process of combining logical combinations of like interests or obvious potential conflicts. Access management has a critical biological component for wildlife security as well as a major social component of desired public access values. Not all roads are equally desired by local publics and not all roads have critical effects on wildlife. These initial combinations can allow teams to initially focus on logical issue combinations.

A number of examples are provided to identify Methods to Display and/or Develop Integrated Priorities. Hours of hard work went into these efforts, but successful teams will tell you that reaching agreement on integrated priorities can lead to a high degree of satisfaction with the end results and a greater willingness to work collaboratively on subsequent efforts, regardless of initial agency or individual concerns or doubts.

Synthesis

4-1: Recreation Sense of Place and Wildlife Security Overlay - Coeur d'Alene

This display demonstrates how important relationships can be identified when two characterizations are overlapped. In this case, there is a high degree of correlation between the backcountry and high mountain sense of place classifications and wildlife security needs.

4-2: Aquatic and Terrestrial Overall Highest Priorities Map - Coeur d'Alene

Overlaying high risk aquatic and terrestrial features can identify areas where further planning strategies need to deal with concurrent solutions rather than dealing with one issue at a time or treating one issue as a barrier to resolving another. This kind of synthesis facilitates the prioritization step of Subbasin Review.

4-3: Status/Risk/Opportunity Summary - Lower Grande Ronde

A format used to document status, risk and opportunity for each review area subdivision by key issue components of the review.

4-4: Issue/Subdivision Prioritization Tables - Rock Creek

Tables depicting subdivision priorities by issue category. Note that for some issues, subdivisions are rated by individual issue components, while for Hydrology, subdivision priorities are derived from ratings of status, risks and opportunities within the subdivision. Regardless of how they were derived, these ratings could be readily integrated through the composite prioritization process illustrated in example 4-5 below.

Methods to Display and/or Develop Integrated Priorities

4-5: Composite Prioritization Form and Discussion - Rock Creek

A ranking system that used a weighting and scoring system for various risk components. Teams deciding to use this kind of system need to make sure that they clearly document how the scoring system works, including the rationale behind it, so that subsequent analyses or planning efforts can better derive meaningful context.

4-6: Watershed Prioritization - Upper Salmon

A ranking system and use of simple maps: demonstrates a way to display priorities that requires little map generation but gets the priority area message across.

4-7: Watershed Priority Ranking Worksheet - Bully Creek

A ranking system that can be used by teams to determine and display priorities.

4-8: Issue Topic Ranking Factors, Watershed Prioritization Table, and Overall Watershed

Rankings - Upper Crooked River

A listing of factors used to rank subdivisions for each issue, followed by a rating matrix leading to overall watershed priority rankings. Documentation of how the factors applied to each subdivision's ranking would become important context for collaborative priority setting and for subsequent analysis and planning within the subdivisions.