357blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/Landscape_Approach/reas.html ). These assessments
are conducted at the Level III Ecoregion scale (epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/
level_iii_iv.htm) and utilize existing information to describe and spatially portray
conservation elements such as habitat for species of concern like sage-grouse (e.g.,
areas with high landscape cover of sagebrush). REAs then gauge the potential of
these habitats to be affected by four change agents: climate, wildfi res, invasive spe-
cies, and development (both energy development and urban growth). In addition,
REAs establish baseline ecological data to evaluate the effectiveness of future man-
agement actions and to serve as a benchmark for pre-project adaptive management
assessments.
As an example, the Central Basin and Range REA encompasses large areas of
Nevada and Utah and extends into California and Idaho for a total area of
359,869 km^2. Sagebrush ecosystems and sage-grouse are of major concern in this
ecoregion. Several examples of REA products germane to restoration of degraded
sagebrush habitat include:
- Status of invasive annual grasses in occupied habitat
- Current distribution of sagebrush habitat and sage-grouse strongholds
- Potential areas to restore habitat connectivity based on current locations of
change agents - Projections of climate change effects on current sagebrush habitat (contraction,
overlap, or expansion)
These REA products provide managers a snapshot of information at a landscape
scale, ranging from 4 to 39 million ha, which can be used to design and implement
sound habitat restoration strategies. These products, in combination with accompa-
nying geospatial data, maps, and predictive models, are openly available through
the REA Data Portal ( http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/Landscape_
Approach/reas/datadisclaimer.html ). While REAs are primarily designed for land
managers within an ecoregion to share science-based information, this information
will need to be scaled down and integrated with concurrent project site monitoring
data prior to making decisions at management scales.
12.5.2.2 Design
The BLM has a long history of designing land treatments and projects to improve or
restore land health on public lands. However, management responses to resource
issues have traditionally been at a local management unit level rather than at a
regional scale. Designing restoration treatments positioned on the landscape in
ways that maximize conservation effectiveness is especially important when
addressing a broadly distributed and wide-ranging species like sage-grouse (Murphy
et al. 2013 ). The BLM is working with other partners to develop a process that inte-
grates both landscape-scale prioritization and management-scale decision tools to
support habitat conservation (Chambers et al. 2014a , b ; Miller et al. 2014 ).
12 Assessing Restoration and Management Needs for Ecosystems...