PRRIP Adaptive Management Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Committee will develop and implement alternative practices intended to achieve the same adaptive management obj ective. For example, the AMP contains management objectives for creating channels with certain characteristics with specific practices. If it is determined that the these practices cannot achieve the desired channel characteristics then the practices may be modified, or abandoned for alternative practices for the purpose of achieving the same desired channel characteristics. Similarly, if it is determined that the desired outcome of management, in our example channel characteristics, should be modified, then these management objectives would be modified and management practices would be designed to meet the new management objectives. Likewise, if it is determined that the desired outcome of a particular channel characteristic be abandoned, the Governance Committee may do so. Throughout this, the overall management objectives of benefiting the target species would not change. This plan is a strategic document that lays out the broad policies and guidelines for conducting adaptive management during the Program. More detail and specific operating plans will be prepared as additional information becomes available. These operating plans will identify specific management objectives for Program lands, specific management actions to be taken to achieve the management objectives, and specific monitoring and research activities that will be used in the evaluation of the management. The AMP is a flexible or "living" document and will be modified during the remainder of the July 1997 Cooperative Agreement period and during the First Increment of the Program. At a minimum, the AMP will be revisited annually. Changes to the AMP may be recommended by the Executive Director or advisory committees, but the Governance Committee has the ultimate authority to make changes in the Plan. A process for modifying the AMP is described in more detail in Section I.G. below. 1. INTRODUCTION Adaptive management as described in this Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) is a series of scientifically driven management actions (within policy and resource constraints) that use the monitoring and research results provided by the Integrated Monitoring and Research Plan (IMRP; Section V of this plan) to test priority hypotheses related to management decisions and actions, and apply the resulting information to improve management. Adaptive management works iteratively as illustrated in the "six steps" of adaptive management illustrated in Figure 1 a (Nyberg 1999). Science based adaptive management operates on the premise that: 1) Uncertainty exists in a managed system, and reduction of uncertainty can improve management; 2) Uncertainty can be reduced through adaptive management but can never be eliminated; 3) Management decisions must be made despite the uncertainty; 4) Monitoring and research programs are in place to evaluate management decisions and to continually improve the knowledge (e.g., underlying conceptual ecological models, computer models) on which these decisions should be based; and 5) Learning about the effects of management will hasten improvement of September 1, 2006 Adaptive Management Plan