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SmartGeo: Geospatial Analysis and Focal Area Management in the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Addressing complexity through integration of business, GIS, and

scientific data

Navigating Complexity 2011 Environmental Evaluators Network Forum

Presented by: Alexandra Ritchie, BLM and Thomas Bartholomew, BLM

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Presentation Goals

1. Educate audience about the BLM and application of complexity theme to BLM’s management challenges

2. Present a method to leverage diversity and complexity of the BLM to achieve sustainable landscapes

3. Model the method4. Offer evaluation framework for both model and method5. Engage the audience in experiential learning and networking6. Collect feedback on proposal and identify potential new

stakeholders or project partners

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BLM & Complexity: Stating the Challenge

We know that at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) our work is inherently spatial; we know that our mission is complex and our structure complicated, but how do we re-orient our perspective from a decentralized agency to one that is able to see the local, landscape, and business context together so we can achieve our mission?

EEN Forum 2011: Navigating Complexity will allow us to explore this question with our peers in the environmental evaluation community

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BLM & Complexity: Stating the Problem•BLM’s Mission: To sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

•BLM’s Vision: To enhance the quality of life for all citizens through the balanced stewardship of America’s public lands and resources.

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Diversity of Resources Managed by the BLM

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BLM FWS NFS NPS0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Number of Budget Line Items for Land Management Agencies

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HQ in DC

12 State Offices & 100+ Field Offices

National Operations Center (Denver)

National Interagency Fire Center (Boise)

National Training Center (Phoenix)

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Introducing BLM’s Wildlife Program

BLM is responsible for managing habitat, state fish and game agencies manage species populations.

BLM’s primary concerns are managing the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation caused by anthropogenic (e.g. urban expansion, energy development) and non-anthropogenic factors (e.g. drought and disease) and multi-source threats (climate change).

The BLM Wildlife Program relies on a wide variety of data collected internally & from an array of agencies and partners to make effective management decisions for the species habitat it is charged with managing.

BLM lands are home to over 3,000 species of wildlife across 245 million acres including:•big game•upland game (e.g. sage-grouse)•waterfowl,•shorebirds, •songbirds, •raptors, •100s of species of non-game mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Data collection in the field.

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Spotlight on Sage-Grouse

Figure. Shaded area represents the current distribution of Greater Sage-Grouse (adapted from Schroeder et al. 2004). (from USGS website)

The BLM manages 30 million acres of sagebrush habitat occupied by the greater sage-grouse in 11 States (~50% of remaining habitat in the U.S.)

The sage-grouse is a Candidate Species for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Multi-agency partnerships such as the Great Basin initiative are starting to address integrity of whole habitat, but State-based nature of BLM and data silos complicate implementation.

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BLM & Complexity: Illustrating the Problem

BLM’s Operational Structure (Process Flows)

National Programs

Nat. Operations Center (NOC)

States

Field OfficesSet national policy & prioritiesAllocates funding to States & NOCReporting

National data managementOperational support for all BLM offices

Implement policy & projectsCollect & manage data

Adapt national policy for State contextAggregate Field Office dataAllocate funding to Field Offices

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Current Programmatic Relational Databases

Engineering

•FAMS

Range•RIPS•RAS

Lands•LR2000

Oil & Gas

•AFMSS

Budget & Performance

•FBMS•PMDS•CBS

Currently Information is stored in relational database, program lead filing system, office-specific central file, SharePoint “silos” at the program, office, and project levels, making it difficult to use data across programs/offices/projects.

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Emergent Properties: InternalEmergent property: A characteristic of complex systems in which the properties (behaviors) of the whole are not predicted by the properties (behaviors) of the individual parts.

80% of BLM’s work processes require the knowledge of place, but many BLM systems do not record place as a data feature or data character

Assessment, Inventory, & Monitoring (AIM) Strategy - Designed to overcome current data management silos and data quality issues for BLM’s resource management data.

Geospatial Services Strategic Plan – Designed to move BLM from an uncoordinated geospatial data management system to an enterprise geospatial data management system that ensures broad access and strong data standards for BLM

Resource Management Planning Matrix – Designed to overcome current programmatic silos and establish and understanding of how different programs and actions interact on the ground so that BLM can prioritize management actions.

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AIM: Present & Future of BLM Data Collection

PresentData is collected: • Permit by permit• Project by project• Program by programData cannot be used to:• Describe landscape trends • Evaluate management effectiveness

across sites, scales, or across programs

• Determine causal relationshipsData cannot be used for multiple

purposesData is not easily accessible

FutureData will be collected using:

– Common indicators• Process driven

– Standard methods• Data standards

– Compatible sample design• Scalable

Integrate remote sensed imagery– Train it with on-the ground data

collection

Data collection will be:– Coordinated across programs– Coordinated across scales– Managed in an enterprise architecture

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The Future of GSSP Enterprise Architecture

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BLM’s Resource Management Planning Matrix

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Emergent Properties: Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC)

• One of 21 LCCs being formed by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) across the United States. LCCs are applied science and management partnerships between DOI bureaus and others involved in natural resource management and conservation, designed to better integrate science and management to address climate change and related issues.

GBLCC is being established by the BLM, with assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Basin, a large region in Nevada and parts of Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and California. The Great Basin LCC will be official once its charter has been approved.

Goal: A self-directed partnership that will provide a range of scientific and technical support tools for landscape-scale conservation design to a wide array of managers. These tools will help managers identify and target explicit biological objectives for native species and habitats in the face of climate change and other stressors. Open public access to Great Basin LCC products will promote acceptance and support of the science that supports changes in conservation strategy.

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Emergent Properties: Eco-Regional Assessments

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Eco-Regional Assessments (continued)

Phase I: Initiate Assessment•Establish mgt & technical teams (regions & NOC)•Identify partners & stakeholders (regions)•Define preliminary mgt q’s (regions) (concept from LUP process)•Prepare statements of work for acquiring & evaluating available info (NOC)

Phase II: Pre-AssessmentIdentify Info•Review existing assessments, lit., data, & models•Identify data gaps•Develop data standards & data management planDevelop Assessment Work Plan (AWP)- methodology, mechanisms (incl. sched., budget, equip., & staff), responsibilities, strategies (collect, manage, & analyze data), & work products (e.g. data sets, models, reports, & maps)

Phase III: Assessment•Locate & map resource values and change agents •Identify status, risks & trends assoc. with these ecol. Values & potential degree of response to change agents•Conduct assessment (using GIS analysis & geospatial modeling) & identify areas of potential concern

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Nice map, where’s the business data?

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Emergent Properties: ExternalNational Context International Context

Data.gov- Designed to serve as a publicly-accessible repository for high value, machine readable, non-classified, non-Privacy Act datasets that the Executive Branch of the Federal Government generates and collects.Intended to promote transparency, participatory democracy, and innovation and supports the Administration’s Open Government initiative.

GEO-a voluntary partnership of govts and intl organizations formed in 2002 in response for need for intl collaboration to exploit the growing potential of Earth observations to support decision making in an increasingly complex and environmentally stressed world.

Performance.gov--To communicate clearly to the public what the President’s high priority goals are and hold Federal agencies accountable for meeting them.

GEOSS- Societal benefit areas include:disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity.

Federal deficit & Accountable Government Initiative—Fiscal constraints & emphasis on reductions in contracting, IT, asset mgt costs

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SmartGeo: the Solution• Leverage GSSP, the Resource Management Planning Matrix

and AIM to connect programmatic data and business data through GIS

• Visually display results of geospatial analysis including programmatic interactions and commitments (from REAs & land use planning) to determine potential for prioritizing multi-year budgets

• Incorporate strategy into LCC/large-landscape conservation approach

• Perform formative evaluation (evaluate & monitor phases of implementation and learning)

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Evaluation Typology and Framework for SmartGeo

• Formative Evaluation• Implement and test in iterative phasesI. Budget pilot study with sagegrouse/focal areas (review

business data & analyze geographically)II. Budget pilot expanded to include all programsIII. Budget and Planning Process Integration across programsIV. Budget, Planning, and Program Evaluation integration

across programsV. All of the above plus human capitalVI. Everything in phase V plus procurement

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SmartGeo & Sage-grouse: Potential Application to Priority Workload

GIS map product

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SmartGeo: Illustrating the Solution (Modified Planning Cycle)

Plan Development

Plan Implementation

Budget Development

Budget Execution

Plan Maintenance

Evaluation (Plan, region, or

program level)

General framework

Specific workplan

Repeat budget cycle until new realities emerge

Update baseline data

Reality check for plans

Account for new reality within plan framework

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Stakeholder Analysis for SmartGeo (Activity)

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Stakeholder Analysis for SmartGeo (Implementation & Evaluation Participation Matrix)

SMARTGeo Stakeholder Participation Planning Matrix

Do not engage

Inform Consult Involve Collaborate Empower

Strategy Planning (incl. context, scope/eval. Q’s, & budget)

AIM Project Coordinator

WO-830 AIM Project Coordinator

Strategy Design (incl. methods and measurement)

NOC

Data Collection & Organization

WO-880 WO-830 WO-400 WO-120 WO-850

NOC NOC NOC WO-830

NOC O/Land Mgt. Agencies

Analysis, Interpretation, Judgments, & Recommendations

BLM Budget Officer

BLM Budget Officer

BLM Budget Officer

ELT

Decision Making (incl. presentation of findings, Dev. Of Action Plan & Implementation of Plan)

BLM Budget Officer

OMB/WH BLM Budget Officer

BLM Budget Officer

ELT OMB/WH BLM/DOI (push to use own data)

Monitoring & Evaluation (of Action Plan &/or Program)

BLM Budget Officer

BLM Budget Officer

BLM Budget Officer

ELT

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SmartGeo and the EEN

EEN—1) What did you learn? 2) To what extent do you think our proposal fit our

challenge/degree of complexity? 2) How might you/your organization approach this problem (alternative solutions/models)? 3) How would you like to support the development of this solution? 4) Role of EEN in supporting SmartGEO?

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Summary & Review of Presentation Goals

Checklist•Educate audience about the BLM and application of complexity theme to BLM’s management challenges•Present a proposal to leverage diversity and complexity of the BLM to achieve sustainable landscapes•Model the proposal•Offer evaluation framework for proposal•Engage the audience in experiential learning and networking•Collect feedback on proposal and identify potential new stakeholders or project partners

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Contact Information for PresentersThomas Bartholomew Alexandra Ritchie

Program AnalystBLM National Budget Officetbarthol@blm.gov(202) 912-7063

Management and Program AnalystBLM Division of Evaluations and Management Servicesaritchie@blm.gov(202) 912-7081

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Stakeholder Analysis for SmartGeo (Self-Organization- BLM Venn Diagram)

AIM

GSSPCMAT

= AIM Project Manager

= National Geospatial Lead

= NOC Division of Resource Services

LEGEND