The Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SRLCC) Steering Committee identified three large landscapes where the LCC partnership should develop landscape conservation designs: the Green River Basin, the Upper Rio Grande, and the Four-‐Corners area of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Because the Green River Basin encompasses part of the Great Northern LCC (GNLCC) as well, GNLCC will partner in this project, and both cooperatives have agreed that the SRLCC will lead development of the design. A Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) combines geospatial data with environmental information to create maps and models to inform conservation planning to inform biological and hydrological goals through adaptive management. [...]
Summary
The Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SRLCC) Steering Committee identified three large landscapes where the LCC partnership should develop landscape conservation designs: the Green River Basin, the Upper Rio Grande, and the Four-‐Corners area of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Because the Green River Basin encompasses part of the Great Northern LCC (GNLCC) as well, GNLCC will partner in this project, and both cooperatives have agreed that the SRLCC will lead development of the design.
A Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) combines geospatial data with environmental information to create maps and models to inform conservation planning to inform biological and hydrological goals through adaptive management. An LCD enables local managers to plan conservation actions in the context of a broader landscape across multiple land ownerships with shared priority resources to carry out adaptive management.
An LCD for the Green River Basin would enhance the ability of many LCC partners to deliver conservation actions in a strategic and coordinated fashion. Recent discussions among partners indicate a single Resource Management Plan (RMP) and a landscape CCP would meet partner needs and provide significant benefits to multiple resources in the watershed. However, to prove practical and implementable, strategic planning efforts must integrate a rational, science-‐informed foundation with the local, regional and national values and priorities expressed by the partners working within the GRB landscape. Ultimately, the Green River Basin LCD should promote and model a collaborative, organized approach to managing diverse conservation targets and resources at a landscape-‐level, potentially including key habitats, species, and processes (e.g. stream flows).
