Transportation for Communities - Advancing Projects Through Partnerships

Develop a consistent strategy and metrics to measure ecological impacts, restoration benefits, and long-term performance – with the goal of having the analyses throughout the life of the project be in the same units and language, to the maximum extent possible.

• Improving and integrating the mitigation sequence at a site level through: Avoidance – using a metric that provides a systematized and structured scenario analysis that leads into, Minimization – which is aided by the same metric providing the basis for outcome-based performance standards, which sets the stage for Compensation – which is defined by the same metric calculating the debit/credit totals associated with the project impacts and mitigation outcomes, respectively.
• Accelerating implementation and improving mitigation results.
• Supporting implementation tools such as advance mitigation, banks, programmatic permitting, and ESA Section 7 consultation.
• Supporting use of off-site mitigation and out-of-kind mitigation where appropriate, since equivalency of value can be determined across locations and resources.
• Informing adaptive management and updates of the cumulative effects analyses
• Balancing gains and losses of ecological functions, benefits and values associated with categories of transportation improvements or specific project related impacts.
• Providing the means of tracking progress towards regional ecosystem goals and objectives (assumes site-level ecological metrics are correlated to the landscape-level tools used to define the REF).

TIP: Click on any of the links below to access detailed guidance for a specific sub-step, or access the complete Guide to the Integrated Ecological Framework

1. Diagnose the measurement need. Examine the ecological setting (including regulated resources and frameworks, non-regulated resources, and ecosystem services); examine the regulatory and social setting; and identify additional opportunities.
2. Evaluate ecosystem and landscape needs and context to identify measurement options.
3. Select or develop units and rules for crediting (e.g., rules for field measurement of ecological functions, approved mitigation/conservation banking, outcome-based performance standards using credit system).
4. Test applicability of units and rules in local conditions.
5. Evaluate local market opportunities for ecosystem services.
6. Negotiate regulatory assurance for credit.
7. Program implementation.

• How will debits/credits be calculated? Is credit stacking allowed?
• What is the permissible service area for a bank, off-site mitigation?
• Who may participate in the crediting system?
• How will credits be registered and tracked?
• How long will regulatory decisions on a given project be binding?
• How will values be calculated across locations and resources?
• What long-term monitoring is needed?

Click on the arrows below for detailed information on each case.

• 

  An Interagency Team Develops Ecosystem-Based Credits and Debits (Eco-Logical, pages 41-42)

  • Location: South Carolina
  • Description: When the Carolina Bays Parkway required additional interchanges, several South Carolina agencies came together to prioritize which local area was in the most need of protection and focus their attention there instead of at the actual site of the construction where mitigation efforts would not be able to effectively support ecosystem objectives. This led to the successful protection and enhancement of local wildlife linkage corridors connecting the two local wildlife preserves. In 2003, the interagency team, which had searched for opportunities to preserve, enhance, and expand the Lewis Ocean Bay NHP and the wildlife linkage corridor, signed an agreement outlining steps to accomplish these goals. South Carolina DOT (SCDOT) and the FHWA put $2.5 million into an escrow account to be spent on the preservation and expansion of Lewis Ocean Bay and the wildlife linkage zone. This Federal-aid money was agreed upon as partial mitigation for two new interchanges to be added to the Parkway. A management system was also put in place for the funds, with members of the USFWS, SCDNR, USACE, and NOAA Fisheries Service forming an Ecosystem Committee to oversee the expenditure of those funds on projects that will enhance, preserve, or expand the Lewis Ocean Bay NHP and protect the Waccamaw River wildlife linkage corridor. Additionally, SCDOT purchased access control of a public road, which limited growth opportunities in that area and protected some of the land adjacent to the Preserves. SCDOT also invited private landowners to become part of the solution. In exchange for one of the new interchanges on the Parkway, the private landowners are donating to SCDNR a 320-acre tract of land. This tract was a privately owned in-holding within Lewis Ocean Bay NHP that could have been developed.
  • Lessons Learned: The final project is expected to be much more beneficial to the local environment than any piecemeal mitigation that could have been completed on-site.
  • Source:
    • http://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/ecological/ecological.pdf
• 

  California Bank Studies

  • Location: California
  • Description: 12 conservation bank case studies developed for Conservation Banking Training on July 19-23, 2010. For Vernal Pool case study: a watershed approach was used to selecting vernal pool sites, and then used the Property Analysis Record (PAR) computer program developed by the Center for Natural Lands Management to assist in forecasting the perpetual tasks of managing a site, the cost of those tasks, and the associated longterm management of the site. In addition, they developed performance measures and only gave partial credit with the remaining credits provided after a set number of years in successfully managing the sites.
  • Source:
    • http://www.conservationfund.org/conservation_bank_case_studies
• 

  Colorado Watershed Approach Pilot (USACE and USEPA)

  • Location: Colorado
  • Description: CO Project uses 5-step process to evaluate impacts and compensation sites: “1) Screening potential compensatory mitigation areas; 2) Establishing mitigation requirements based on impact site; 3) Evaluating the ecological suitability of potential compensatory mitigation sites; 4) Crediting and debiting mitigation activities; 5) Setting performance standards for mitigation compliance and evaluation".
  • Source:
    • http://wetlandsnewsletter.org/pdf/32.06/watershedapproach.pdf
    • Sumner et al 2010: Incorporating the Watershed Approach for Wetland Compensatory Mitigation
• 

  Savannah District's USACE: Mitigation

  • Location: Savannah USACE District
  • Description: The Savannah District’s watershed approach includes outreach to governments and stakeholders, use of “watershed champions” in each watershed, use of ORM, use of cumulative impacts assessments by HUC-8 to evaluate past, present, and future resource impacts, and shifting compensation from on-site to off-site mitigation banking. Uses indicators of wetland functions and stream functions to assign a broader range of trading ratios to inform ecosystem crediting.
  • Source:
    • http://www.gwri.gatech.edu/uploads/proceedings/2009/2.3.1_Bernstein.pdf
    • Bernstein and King 2009: Using a watershed approach to manage resources within jurisdiction of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District Regulatory program
• 

  Willamette Valley Priority Wetland and Ecosystem Analyses

  • Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon
  • Description: The General Crediting Protocol for the Willamette Basin Partnership references priority areas for ecological improvements to salmonoid habitat, prairie habitat, wetland habitat, and water temperature impairments. The Partnership identifies priority rivers and streams for improved salmon habitat based on NMFS data, priorities for investment in prairie habitat and thermal pollution mitigation based on the Willamette Basin Synthesis Map, and priorities for wetland mitigation based on the Synthesis Map or areas with surrounded by high-function wetlands as determined by ORWAP. The Synthesis Map was produced by a mix of conservation groups, academics, and government agencies, including Oregon State University and the Willamette Partnership, to identify priority terrestrial and freshwater sites for conservation and restoration. Important for CWA mitigation, the Synthesis Map integrates priority wetland sites for conservation and restoration developed by the Wetlands Conservancy. The Partnership also cites the Oregon Department of State Lands’ mitigation guidelines to aid site selection for compensatory mitigation.
  • Source:
    • http://willamettepartnership.org/
    • http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04152.x/pdf
    • http://www.regionalpartnerships.umn.edu/public/Nelson%20et%20al.09.Modeling%20Eco%20Srvices.pdf

Click on the arrows below for detailed information on each tool or method.

• 

  Applied River Morphology Method

  • Description: Provides a detailed explanation of the Rosgen stream classification system (Rosgen 1994) and “how it might be used to incorporate the observed processes of river mechanics into restoration designs.” (Rosgen 1996). Presents probable channel evolution scenarios based on existing channel and valley features to suggest potential future stream conditions. Based on field data but may have GIS component. Descriptive and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: River Classification.
  • Source:
    • Rosgen 1996
  • Accessibility: Short course taught by developer. Schedule available at http://www.wildlandhydrology.com/html/courses.htm
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide rivers and streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES)

  • Description: ARIES is a web-based technology offered to users worldwide to assist rapid ecosystem service assessment and valuation (ESAV). Its purpose is to make environmental decision making easier and more effective. ARIES helps discover, understand, and quantify environmental assets and what factors influence their values, for a geographical area and based on its users’ needs and priorities.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Data Integration.
  • Source:
    • http://www.ariesonline.org/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: To help organizations or jurisdictions identify issues and opportunities for understanding ecosystem services. A decision support system.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Basinwide Visual Estimation Technique

  • Description: A sampling design for estimating total fish abundance and total fish habitat area within a watershed. Based on field data but may have GIS component. Quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Model and Develpment/Geographic Information Systems.
  • Source:
    • Dolloff et al. 1993
    • http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/1764
  • Accessibility: Information on how to conduct the methodology is defined in report. Sample datasheets are included in the appendix.
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Small streams. Not limited to any single geographic region, but was developed and has been most utilized in the western U.S.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Method Field Manual for Streams

  • Description: Initiated to help determine the existing uses and beneficial use support status of Idaho’s water bodies. BURP monitoring emphasizes sampling, analysis, and assessment of biological assemblages and physical habitat structure of streams to ultimately support characterization of stream integrity and overall quality. This BURP Field Manual provides information needed for consistency and comparability of monitoring efforts among Idaho Department of Environmental Quality personnel as well as other entities interested in following these methods. A descriptive, ordinal scale with quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Monitoring.
  • Source:
    • Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, BURP TAC 2004
    • http://www.deq.idaho.gov/water/data_reports/surface_water/monitoring/burp_field_manual_2004_entire.pdf
  • Accessibility: Information on how to conduct the methodology is defined in report.
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Idaho streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Bushbroker

  • Description: A trading scheme for registering and trading native vegetation offset credits. Native vegetation credits are listed on the BushBroker register and these can be bought by another party and subsequently used as an offset for the approved clearing of native vegetation.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: ecosystem crediting system.
  • Source:
    • Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment, Australia 2006
    • http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/conservation-and-environment/bushbroker
  • Accessibility: Conducted by the Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment. Factsheets available on website.
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Auction-based tool for managing offset mitigation.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Bushtender

  • Description: This survey protocol develops habitat scores based on field site studies that can be conducted on large tracts of land. The resulting score has been used in trials for auction based conservation financing.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: ecosystem crediting system.
  • Source:
    • Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment, Australia
    • http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/conservation-and-environment/biodiversity/rural-landscapes/bushtender
  • Accessibility: Organizations contemplating running an auction-based project for natural resource management outcomes can obtain advice from Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment - Ecosystem Services Branch on these matters
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Auction-based tools for restoration of native range and forest land.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Coarse spatial scale, focused on a single ecosystem.
• 

  Business and Biodiversity Offset Program

  • Description: An international partnership between companies, governments and conservation experts to explore biodiversity offsets and develop the principles and methodologies required to support best practice in voluntary biodiversity offsets. BBOP has published a set of ten principles on biodiversity supported unanimously by the 40 member organizations of the BBOP Advisory Committee, together with supporting material in the form of interim guidance on the design and implementation of offsets.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: ecosystem crediting system.
  • Source:
    • Forest Trends
    • Patrick Maguire Forest Trends 1050 Potomac St, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007 Email: bbop@forest-trends.org Telephone: 202-298-3000
    • http://bbop.forest-trends.org/index.php
  • Accessibility: Contact Patrick Maguire at Forest Trends, 1050 Potomac St, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007, Email: bbop@forest-trends.org, Telephone: 202-298-3000
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: To develop best practice on biodiversity offsets for the BBOP partners.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  California Carbon Project Protocols

  • Description: There are a number of protocols developed for different credit actions. Most relevant is December 2008 forest protocol applicable nationally. Quantifies only carbon sequestration.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: ecosystem crediting system.
  • Source:
    • California Climate Action Reserve
    • http://www.climateactionreserve.org/how/protocols/
  • Accessibility: Protocols for implementing assessment available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Carbon Credit Calculator
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  California Rapid Assessment Method

  • Description: A wetland functional assessment that looks at conditions and stressors. Allows for differing level of detail based on use. First step is classifying the wetland, then assigning scores for Buffer and Landscape Context, Hydrology, Physical Structure, and Biotic Structure.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Landscape Condition Modeling, Wetland Function Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
    • http://www.cramwetlands.org/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland Assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Casco Bay Watershed Wetlands Characterization Method

  • Description: To provide a watershed-based wetlands characterization method using GIS. Listed uses include: to inform and support wetlands conservation and protection programs at the state, local, and national levels; as an aid in municipal and regional planning, including open space, habitat and water quality planning; and to provide information on wetlands and affiliated upland systems for use in compensatory mitigation situations. Nominal scale output units.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetland Characterization.
  • Source:
    • http://maine.gov/spo/coastal/downloads/wetlands/cascobaywetlandscharc.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocols for implementing assessment available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Marine freshwater and marine wetlands.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  City Green

  • Description: An ArcGIS package of models that calculates ecosystem services and economic value for stormwater, carbon storage and sequestration, air pollution removal, and water quality. Does analysis on user-defined land cover layer.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services and Crediting.
  • Source:
    • American Forests
    • http://www.americanforests.org/productsandpubs/citygreen/
  • Accessibility: Pricing available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Analysis tool for decision makers
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Combined Assessment Procedure/Habitat Evaluation Procedures

  • Description: Used to quantify the impact of hydroelectric projects and benefits of mitigation in the Pacific Northwest. CHAP is an evolution that allows for crediting out-of-kind habitats. Based on species-habitat associations.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat evaluation.
  • Source:
    • Bonneville Power Administration/NW Habitat Institute
    • http://nwhi.org/index/hab
  • Accessibility: Provided as a consulting service
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Integrated ecosystem services accounting
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: The system can only measure the presence/absence of habitat elements. Function based accounting is limited to those provided by species. More potential benefit as an assessment.
• 

  Connecticut Method

  • Description: To provide a method of wetland evaluation for use by public officials and others who have some familiarity with wetlands; to be used for wetland policy formation and analysis. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetland Evaluation.
  • Source:
    • Ammann et al. 1986
  • Accessibility: Contact Kimberly McCracken at Kimberly.McCracken@nh.usda.gov
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Connecticut inland wetlands and watercourses
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Descriptive Approach (Highway Methodology)

  • Description: To identify and display wetland functions and values acceptable for the Corps New England District Regulatory Program. This method can be used for any project where the characterization of wetland resources is necessary for Section 404 permit requirements.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Wetland Function and Value Assessment.
  • Source:
    • USACE New England Regulatory Program 1999
    • http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/reg/Pubs/hwsplmnt.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol downloaded from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: New England Wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Developing Rapid Methods for Analyzing Upland Riparian Functions and Values

  • Description: A rapid assessment method for non-wetland riparian habitat in Washington State. Indicators are used to identify the potential of a site to provide a function, the potential of the landscape to support the function, and the value the function provides to society.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat assessment.
  • Source:
    • Hruby, T., 2009
  • Accessibility: Contact author at Thru461@ecy.wa.go
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: To implement upland riparian laws in Washington.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Development of a Floristic Quality Assessment Methodology for Wisconsin

  • Description: Developed to provide an intensive measure of wetland biological integrity based on the condition of the plant community.
  • Source:
    • Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2003
    • http://dnr.wi.gov/wetlands/methods.html
  • Accessibility: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: For use with the Wisconsin wetland monitoring program
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Eastern Kentucky Stream Assessment Protocol (EKY)

  • Description: The eKY Protocol was developed to address the need for a headwater stream assessment procedure to assess potential impacts of projects proposed in the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield Region by applicants seeking authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In addition, the assessment protocol also had to suggest requisite levels of compensatory mitigation efforts to offset the adverse impacts and identify applicable monitoring variables and success criteria to evaluate the success of mitigation efforts. Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • USACE 2002
  • Accessibility: version of the USEPA RBP calibrated to local condition in Kentucky. USEPA RBO available at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/monitoring/rsl/bioassessment/index.cfm
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Eastern KY coalfield physiographic region; 1st to 3rd order streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: At the stream reach (minimum 100m in length), plus a macroinvertebrate bioassessment index for headwater streams of the Eastern Coalfield Region
• 

  Ecological Site Inventory

  • Description: A descriptive tool used by NRCS to describe the baseline ecological conditions as part of natural resources planning. There are not quantitative elements, so an extensive review was not conducted.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Landscape Condition Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Bureau of Land Management
    • http://esis.sc.egov.usda.gov/
  • Accessibility: See contact information on website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Qualitative tool
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Ecometrix

  • Description: An integrated function based ecosystem services accounting methodology that integrates resources and methodologies allowing for decision making analysis, crediting and trading, and environmental performance measurement monitoring.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services.
  • Source:
    • Parametrix
    • http://www.parametrix.com/cap/nat/_ecosystems.html
  • Accessibility: Available as a consulting service
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Integrated ecosystem services accounting
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Very sensitive to direct restoration and development related project impacts; can be used at project scale; function based accounting based on MA ES; can be tailored to geography, habitat and policy requirements
• 

  Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment Model

  • Description: Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) is a system for rating the quality, quantity, and diversity of habitat along a stream, relative to the needs of a focal species such as coho or Chinook salmon.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Landscape Condition Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Mobrand Biometrics, Inc./ICF Jones and Stokes
    • http://edt.jonesandstokes.com/EBP/Ecosystems/EDT.aspx
  • Accessibility: Need to create user account. Contact information on website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Conceptual framework for decisionmaking and set of modeling tools to organize environmental info and rate habitat elements by focal species. In effect, describes how the fish would rate stream conditions based on scientific understanding of their needs.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Ecosystem Valuation Methods

  • Description: A package of models on a website that allows landowners to calculate potential ecosystem credits from their lands. Best available models are approved by agencies for use but are still early in development.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Crediting.
  • Source:
    • Virginia Department of Forestry
    • http://www.ecosystemvaluation.org/dollar_based.htm
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water quality
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Protocols

  • Description: A series of assessment methods and guidance for monitoring ecological conditions and risks
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Assessment and Monitoring.
  • Source:
    • Environmental Protection Agency
    • http://www.epa.gov/emap/index.html
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Broad set of assessment tools for various resources
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Envision

  • Description: Envision is a GIS-based tool (beta version) for developing alternative-futures analysis used to model the landscape impacts of various policy scenarios on land use change and accompanying biophysical impacts. Strongest applications are mapping the cumulative effects of multiple actions at multiple sites as it tracks impacts over time. Has the ability to plug in evaluative models (e.g., credit calculators).
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Socioeconomic Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Oregon State University
    • http://envision.bioe.orst.edu/#http://envision.bioe.orst.edu/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Created to conduct research about the nature and properties of coupled human and natural environmental systems in the context of climate change
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  EPA Oregon Stream Methodology

  • Description: Identifies perennial and ephemeral streams in Oregon. Uses field indicators that identify evidence of flow.
  • Source:
    • http://oregon.gov/DSL/PERMITS/streamflow.shtml
  • Accessibility: Methodology protocol and data form available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water quality assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:No
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  EPA Region 10 In-stream Biological Monitoring Handbook

  • Description: To supplement the rapid bioassessment protocols (Plafkin et al. 1989; rev. Barbour et al. 1999) by illustrating how Region 10 States have adapted the RBPs for the northwestern U.S.; to define the minimum components necessary to conduct stream bioassessment; and to encourage consistency of sampling methods to facilitate data sharing. Ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Source:
    • EPA/Hayslip 1993
    • http://water.epa.gov/scitech/monitoring/rsl/bioassessment/index.cfm
  • Accessibility: Protocol available for download from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wadeable streams and rivers in Region 10 (WA, OR, and ID)
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Evaluation for Planned Wetlands

  • Description: To determine whether a planned wetland has been adequately designed to achieve defined wetland function goals. This method has also been used to assess conditions of existing wetlands. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Assessment of wetland function.
  • Source:
    • Bartoldus et al. 1994
  • Accessibility: Comtact Environmental Concern Inc. at admin@wetland.org
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: US wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Fairfax County Stream Physical Assessment Protocols

  • Description: Fairfax County developed a Stream Protection Strategy as part of on-going progress towards a watershed management program. The Strategy includes methods that build upon and incorporate extant bioassessment programs and will allow the Stormwater Management Branch to better anticipate, prevent, prioritize, and correct adverse impacts to the County’s stream resources. The Strategy incorporates biological sampling (e.g. benthic macroinvertebrates and fish) and rapid physical habitat and geomorphology assessments. Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Assessment Protocols.
  • Source:
    • Fairfax County Stormwater Management Branch 2001
    • http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/publications/sps/spsappendix.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocols available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Fairfax County small streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Field Manual for Ohio's Headwater Habitat Streams

  • Description: The Field Evaluation Manual for Ohio’s Primary Headwater Habitat Streams is intended to promote standardized assessment of actual and expected biological conditions in primary headwater habitat (PHWH) streams in Ohio. The principal regulatory and/or administrative impetus for development of the protocols was pursuant to water quality standards (designated uses, water quality criteria, antidegradation) for the NPDES program. The methods outlined in the Manual are designed to statistically differentiate among three quality classes (designated uses) of PHWH streams in Ohio: Class III PHWH Stream (cool-cold water adapted native fauna); Class II PHWH Stream (warm water adapted native fauna); Class I PHWH Stream (ephemeral stream, normally dry channel). Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream assessment.
  • Source:
    • Davic 2002
    • http://www.epa.ohio.gov/portals/35/wqs/headwaters/PHWHManual_2009.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available for download from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Ohio; however, this method can be applied to other areas that have cold-cool spring fed adapted biological communities of headwater salamander and benthic macroinvertebrate communities.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Fire Regime Condition Class

  • Description: To provide tools for fire, vegetation, and fuels assessment and management at both the landscape and stand levels. Methods are used to describe general landscape fire regime and vegetation-fuel characteristics. Descriptive, ordinal scale, and nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Fire related assessments.
  • Source:
    • FRCC 2005
    • http://frames.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=309&mode=2&in_hi_userid=2&cached=true
  • Accessibility: Version 3.0 expected to be released in early 2011
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Forests nationwide
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Florida Wetland Quality Index

  • Description: A method for determining compensatory mitigation requirements for impacted wetlands within the Everglades
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetland Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Lodge, T.E., H.O. Hillestad, S.W. Carney, and R.B. Darling, 1995
  • Accessibility: Adaptation of EPA wetland assessment method
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: To evaluate mitigation site compliance with regulatory requirements
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Florida Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure

  • Description: A rapid assessment procedure designed to assess mitigation projects with a habitat emphasis. It yields a single score that may be interpreted as condition.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetland Assessment.
  • Source:
    • South Florida Water Management District, 1999
    • http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Divisions/Regulatory/DOCS/mitigation/draft_E-WRAP.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available online
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Assessing mitigation projects
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Floristic Quality Assessment Index

  • Description: To provide an objective standard (Floristic quality assessment index) for describing the quality of plant communities. Used to make relative comparisons in environmental and natural resources management. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Swink and Wilhelm 1979
  • Accessibility: Contact Barbara Andreas, Kent State University Department of Biological Sciences, Kent, OH 44242, Phone: 330-672-2453, Email: bandreas@kent.edu
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Any vegetation community. Initially for Chicago Illinois, but subsequently has been modified for use in a few additional states.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Freshwater Wetland Mitigation Quality Assessment Procedure

  • Description: A wetland functional assessment that evaluates the relative probability that a constructed freshwater wetland will develop to approximate the functioning of natural wetlands over time.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: wetland assessment.
  • Source:
    • New Jersey Department of Environmental Quality, 2001
    • http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/wetlands/
  • Accessibility: Contact New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Office of Science
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: An informational tool only
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Gravel Bed Instream Flows

  • Description: To provide a methodology for estimating essential water flow regimes needed for the self maintenance of gravel-bed stream channels. Quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: water regime assessment.
  • Source:
    • Schmidt and Potyondy 2004
    • http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/6434
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Intermountain west. Perennial, unregulated, snowmelt-dominated, gravel-bed streams with alluvial reaches. This method is unlikely to work in arid environments with ephemeral channels where hydrographs are flashy.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Guidance for Rating the Values of Wetlands in North Carolina

  • Description: A wetland functional assessment that assesses six wetland functions only for their effect on wetland values (societal benefit).
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, 1995
    • http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/ncwetlands/documents/NCWetlandAssessment_v4.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Making 401 Water Quality decisions on impacts and mitigation.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Guidelines for Evaluating Fish Habitat in Wisconsin

  • Description: To establish a standardized general protocol “that can be used when conducting any stream habitat survey, evaluation, monitoring program, appraisal, or special project.when precise, defensible methods are needed to substantiate management objectives, priorities, or effectiveness [of management treatments]” (Simonson et al. 1994). Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Simonsen et al. 1993
    • http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nc164.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wisconsin and adjacent states. Permanent, wadeable streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Habitat Assessment Model

  • Description: To aid managers in discerning the relationships between wildlife populations (for elk and mule deer) and habitat sustainability. The model produces a range of population values with related management implications (e.g., grazing, burning) that can be used in the planning process. Developed to resolve fence and forage conflicts on private and public lands. Quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Wockner et al. 2005
    • http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/habitat/HAM_Manual_May_2005.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: CO Terrestrial Habitat
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Habitat Equivalency Analysis

  • Description: Developed to calculate the credits needed to identify impacts for Natural Resource Damage Assessments under a series of statutory authorities including CERCLA (Superfund) Assigns a habitat functional score to each habitat unit in a site and multiplies that by the area. Time to being fully functional is also accounted for using a standard discount rate. The assessments allow for out of kind and off site assessments, but it is used only in response to natural resource damages not in anticipation.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Crediting.
  • Source:
    • NOAA
    • http://www.csc.noaa.gov/coastal/economics/habitatequ.htm
  • Accessibility: Contact NOAA
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Integrated ecosystem services accounting
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Allows for measurement for mitigation but not necessarily credits
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP)

  • Description: Assess the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species by comparing the same area at different points in time or by different areas at one point in time. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling.
  • Source:
    • USFWS 1980
    • http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Products/Software/HEP/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: All regions regularly inhabited by species for which HIS models are available.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Hawaii Stream Bioassessment

  • Description: To provide the tools and informational framework required to conduct meaningful water quality assessments aimed at restoring and/or maintaining the “biological integrity” of Hawaii’s streams. Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Water Quality Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Kido 2002
    • http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/env-planning/wqm/hsbp301.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available to download
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Hawaii streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Heat Source Model

  • Description: Currently the Shade-a-Lator tool within the Heat Source model is being used to calculate temperature credits in the Willamette. Requires data from GIS and field collection.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: ecosystem crediting.
  • Source:
    • Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
    • http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/TMDLs/tools.htm
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water Quality Assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Focuses on a single component of water quality
• 

  Hydrogeomorphic Method

  • Description: National methodology for wetland impacts and mitigation
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • US Army Corps of Engineers/EPA/FHWA
    • http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/wetlands/pdfs/wrpde4.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Idaho Small Stream Assessment

  • Description: To assess aquatic life use support for small streams using biological indicators, habitat data, and numeric water quality criteria. The document provides detailed technical information concerning the development and integration of the Stream Macroinvertebrate Index (SMI), Stream Fish Index (SFI), and Stream Habitat Index (SHI) used in the aquatic life use support determination. Ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream assessment.
  • Source:
    • Grafe 2002
    • http://www.deq.idaho.gov/water/data_reports/surface_water/monitoring/assessment_stream_entire.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: ID medium and large rivers in mountainous settings
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Index of Biological Integrity - Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, and Plants

  • Description: To assess biological integrity of a habitat utilizing one of the four (birds, fish, invertebrates, and plants) as indicators of relative condition of a selected habitat. Ordinal scale and quantitative.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Integrity Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Karr 1981
    • Contact James Karr, University of Washington Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Box 355020 Seattle, WA 98195-5020, Phone: 206-528-0085 Email: jrkarr@u.washington.edu
  • Accessibility: Contact James Karr, University of Washington Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Box 355020 Seattle, WA 98195-5020, Phone: 206-528-0085 Email: jrkarr@u.washington.edu
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide in most habitat types. Methodology is generalized and requires local application.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Sensitive for the four specific biotic groups (birds, fish, invertebrates, plants) in relation to habitat
• 

  Index of Marsh Bird Community Integrity

  • Description: To evaluate the biological integrity of marsh bird communities and assess estuarine wetland condition. Modification of Karr method,
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Integrity Assessment.
  • Source:
    • DeLuca et al. 2004
  • Accessibility: Contact William DeLuca, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Rd., P.O. Box 28, Edgewater, MD 21037-0028, Phone: 443-482-2275, Email: delucaw@si.edu
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Chesapeake Bay (MD, VA, DE) tidal wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Instream Flow Incremental Methodology

  • Description: IFIM is a tool to assess in-stream flow problems, ranging from simple diversions to complex storage and release schemes. It provides resources managers with a decision support system for determining the benefits or consequences of different water management alternatives. Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Instream Flow.
  • Source:
    • Bovee 2004
    • http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Products/Publications/pub_abstract.asp?PubID=3910
  • Accessibility: Protocol available for download
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: National
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Interim Guidelines to Avoid and Minimize Wildlife Impacts from Wind Turbines - Potential Impact Index

  • Description: PII is a protocol allows the user to evaluate potential development sites using checklists and rank them against a reference site. Objectives are to: (1) assist developers in deciding whether to proceed with development; (2) provide a procedure to determine pre-construction study needs to verify use of potential sites by wildlife; and (3) provide recommendations for monitoring potential sites postconstruction to identify, quantify, or verify actual impacts (or lack thereof).
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling.
  • Source:
    • http://www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available to download
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: To assist the wind energy industry in avoiding or minimizing impacts to wildlife and their habitats.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Some features provide model framework; others should be developed by wildlife biologists familiar with region
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Acknowledges that each proposed development site is unique due to local differences in wildlife concentration and movement patterns, and requires detailed, individual evaluation.
• 

  InVEST: Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs

  • Description: A package of models in an ArcGIS extension that calculates ecosystem services based on land use/land cover and packaged assumptions about service provision by land cover type.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services.
  • Source:
    • Natural Capital Project
    • http://naturalcapitalproject.org/InVEST.html
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Integrated ecosystem services accounting
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  King County Functional Equivalency Evaluation System

  • Description: A methodology to provide a standardized procedure for assessing the functions provided by wetlands and aquatic areas, the amount those functions are reduced by impacts and the amount of mitigation required to offset the loss.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks and Department of Development and Environmental Resources, 2008
  • Accessibility: Contact King County
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Establishes a system for determining the amount of mitigation needed to offset adverse impacts to wetlands and aquatic areas. The system also is designed to award and deduct credits through the King County Mitigation Reserves Program.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: A standardized procedure at the site level for assessing wetland and aquatic function
• 

  Landserver

  • Description: LandServer is a tool for landowners, managers and governments to identify ecosystem service production opportunities on their lands. The tool is under development with a current pilot test running in the Chesapeake region. It is a secondary data GIS based tool that works to identify payment for ecosystem services options for landowners.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services.
  • Source:
    • Pinchot Institute for Conservation
    • http://landserver.org/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Mid-Atlantic and then national
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Describe: Via monetary equivalents
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Maryland Green Infrastructure Assessment

  • Description: To help identify and prioritize those areas of greatest statewide ecological importance, as well as those at greatest risk of loss to development. Nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Decision Support: Conservation and Restoration Planning.
  • Source:
    • Weber 2003
  • Accessibility: Protocol available to download
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Maryland
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  MDT Montana Wetland Assessment Method

  • Description: To evaluate wetland function and values. Designed to address highway and other linear projects, but can be applied to other types of projects including mitigation. Nominal and ordinal scale.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Wetland Function and Value Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Berglund 1999
    • http://www.mdt.mt.gov/other/environmental/external/wetlands/2008_WETLAND_ASSESSMENT/2008_MWAM_MANUAL.PDF
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Montana wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Methods for Assessing Wetland Functions. Volume I: Riverine and Depressional Wetlands in the Lowlands of Western Washington

  • Description: An HGM reference-based assessment restricted to depressional and riverine class wetlands located in Washington's western lowlands.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Wetland Function.
  • Source:
    • Washington State Department of Ecology, 1999
    • http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/wetlands/wfap/westernWFAPmethods.html
  • Accessibility: Protocol and spreadsheets available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Methods for Assessing Wetland Functions. Volume II: Depressional Wetlands in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington

  • Description: An HGM reference-based assessment restricted to depressional class wetlands located in Washington's Columbia Basin.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Wetland Function.
  • Source:
    • Washington State Department of Ecology, 2000
    • http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/wetlands/wfap/index.html#Columbia
  • Accessibility: Protocol and spreadsheets available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Methods for Characterizing Stream Habitat

  • Description: To assess status and trends in water quality nationwide and to develop an understanding of the major factors influencing observed conditions and trends. Descriptive and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Habitat Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Fitzpatrick et al. 1998
    • http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri984052/index.html
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Methods for Evaluating Stream Conditions

  • Description: Platts et al. (1983) presents standard techniques for measuring aquatic, riparian, and biotic attributes and stresses the precision and accuracy of each measurement. In this way, the authors aim to provide the field practitioner with tools and information to build on and evaluate for assessing particular aquatic habitat and biological features. Platts et al. (1987) expands upon Platts et al. (1983) with a “comprehensive set of the latest methods for … use in managing, evaluating, and monitoring riparian conditions….” Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Landscape Condition Modeling, Stream Conditions.
  • Source:
    • http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr138.html
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Methods for Stream Habitat Surveys Aquatic Inventories Project

  • Description: Developed to monitor habitat conditions for Oregon streams
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Monitoring Methods.
  • Source:
    • Oregon Department of Natural Resources
    • http://nrimp.dfw.state.or.us/crl/default.aspx?p=410
  • Accessibility: Protocol and survey forms available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Streams and rivers
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Michigan Valley Segment Ecological Classification - Inventory

  • Description: Identify and describe naturally occurring, ecologically distinct, spatial units in river. Uses include inventory, research (sampling designs based on stratification of river valley segment types), and basis for resource management. Descriptive output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: River habitat characterization.
  • Source:
    • Seelbach et al. 1997
    • http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/ifr/ifrlibra/Research/reports/2036rr.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Lower Michigan. Currently being revised for application for states of Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Minnesota Habitat and Water Chemistry Protocol

  • Description: To support assessment of water quality and development of biological criteria for Minnesota streams. These procedures are also applicable for USEPA Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) stations and sites suspected of being impacted by a source of pollution. Descriptive and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Water Quality Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 2002
    • Protocol available from website
    • http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid,6089
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: MN Wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Minnesota Routine Assessment Method Updated Version

  • Description: The original 1992 version of MnRAM was developed to provide a practical assessment tool that would help local authorities make sound wetland management decisions as they assumed responsibility for regulating wetland impacts. The current version represents a more refined procedure that provides numeric, rather than the original descriptive, ratings. It may be applied to existing wetlands or potential restoration sites. Descriptive and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/mnram/index.html
  • Accessibility: Protocol and database available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Northern Great Plains Prairie Pothole Region wetlands within watershed context including open water bodies and streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Montana Stream Mitigation Process

  • Description: Uses indicators of riparian functions to assign a broader range of trading ratios.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Mitigation Ratio Assessment.
  • Source:
    • US Army Corps of Engineers - Omaha
    • http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/od-rmt/MTSMP_May20101.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol and data forms available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water quality assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Montana Wetland Rapid Assessment Method

  • Description: A wetland rapid assessment that looks at ecological integrity (condition) of a wetland.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Wetland Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 2005
    • http://deq.mt.gov/wqinfo/Wetlands/PDFs/FnlDrftGdebkRAMDEC05.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Field-based screening level assessment tool used to help identify and prioritize wetlands within a watershed or region for protection and restoration
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Multi-scale Assessment of Watershed Integrity

  • Description: To provide a baseline (current condition) assessment of riparian ecosystem integrity at the watershed scale. Once completed the assessment can be used to evaluate potential impacts of future development on riparian areas within a watershed or to help prioritize areas for riparian restoration. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Watershed Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Smith 2003
    • http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/samp/W_Riverside_Riparian_Assess_Report1.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Watersheds of California (i.e. watersheds that drain to the Pacific Ocean); Riparian ecosystems and streams, including adjacent upland areas.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  New Hampshire Method

  • Description: To provide a method of wetland evaluation for use by public officials and others who have some familiarity with wetlands, but who are not necessarily wetland specialists. Used for planning, education, and wetland inventory. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Ammann and Stone 1991
    • http://restorenhwetlands.com/pdf/NH_method_Part1.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: NH nontidal wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  New Jersey Watershed Method

  • Description: GIS-based method for assessing watershed and wetland integrity and the potential impact to this integrity. Created to enable a comparative assessment of all watersheds and wetlands in NJ pinelands. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Watershed Modeling, Wetlands Modeling, Wetland and Watershed Integrity Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Zampella et al. 1994
  • Accessibility: Contact author at zampella@njpines.state.nj.us
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: NJ Pinelands; could apply to other riverine wetland types
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  New York State DOT Environmental Initiative

  • Description: NYSDOT has developed guidelines that direct operation of the Environmental Initiative. "NYSDOT’s Environmental Initiative plans to go beyond state and federal regulatory objectives to achieve no-net-loss by improving or restoring wetlands affected by improving or restoring wetlands affected by federal-aid highway projects that were done before regulatory mitigation was required, constructing additional wetland acreage in projects beyond that required for state and federal wetland permits, working cooperatively with The Nature Conservancy and the resource agencies to preserve important existing wetland sites, creating new wetlands to control non-point source pollution as well as to provide other wetland functions, such as wildlife habitat."
  • Applicable Areas of Decision Support: Conservation and Restoration Planning, Long Range Transportation Planning, Transportation Corridor Planning, Transportation Project Planning (EIS), Guides approach to mitigation.
  • Source:
    • McVoy, G., M. Sengenberger, and E. Novak 1999: The NYSDOT Environmental Initiative Guidelines and Procedures for a New Paradigm
    • https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/environmental-analysis/environmental-initiative
  • Accessibility: Policy, guidelines and procedures available from website
• 

  North Carolina Coastal Region Evaluation of Wetland Significance

  • Description: Designed to predict the relative ecological significance and to assess the level of water quality, wildlife habitat, and hydrologic functions of individual wetlands using a watershed-based model in GIS software. Nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Sutter et al. 1999
    • http://dcm2.enr.state.nc.us/Wetlands/nccrews.htm
  • Accessibility: Protocol and NC GIS data available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: NC coastal region wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Numerical Method for Evaluation of Maine Peatlands

  • Description: A quantitative method of evaluation of the natural features of peatlands, providing the fundamental tool for establishing peatland protection priorities. Nominal and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Peatland Habitat Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Davis and Anderson 1999
    • http://www.maine.gov/doc/nrimc/mnap/features/ecosystems.htm
  • Accessibility: Contact Main Natural Areas Program at maine.nap@maine.gov
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Maine Peatlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Nutrient Trading Tool

  • Description: Developed by NRCS to calculate Nitrogen credits. Has expanded to include phosphorous, and can also calculate sediments. It is powered by the APEX model, which is a run-off based model. No field-level data is required. Farmer can input crop types, fertilizer use, irrigation patterns, and BMPs. Future add-ons will include water quantity and carbon calculations.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services and Crediting.
  • Source:
    • USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
    • http://ntt.tarleton.edu/nttwebars/(S(y4a5it452sety245s3h4my45))/Default.aspx
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water quality assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Yes
    • Describe: Site-level sensitivity that incorporates condition and management practice
• 

  NutrientNet (powered by EPIC)

  • Description: NutrientNet is a web-based platform customized for each watershed to support nutrient trading. It has a credit calculator, registry, and exchange function. Very similar to Nutrient Trading Tool, but maybe not as powerful.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services - Nutrient trading.
  • Source:
    • World Resources Institute
    • http://nutrientnet.org/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water quality assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Ohio Rapid Assessment Method for Wetlands V 5.0

  • Description: The Ohio Rapid Assessment Method is designed to aid in the determination of wetland categories as defined in Ohio’s Wetland Antidegradation Rule. The use of the Ohio Rapid Assessment Method should not be considered as a substitute, and is not intended to be a substitute, for detailed studies of the functions and biology of a wetland.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Ohio EPA, Division of Surface Water, 2001
    • http://www.epa.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=eCS54trRN5Q%3d&tabid=3325
  • Accessibility: Protocol and forms available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: The method is designed to identify the appropriate level of regulatory protection a particular wetland should receive. It is not designed or intended to be used to determine a particular wetland’s ecologic or human value.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Oregon Rapid Wetlands Assessment Protocol

  • Description: Being developed as a rapid functional assessment combining visual assessments and collection of spatial data. Considers both wetland functions and conditions.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Adamus (in development)
    • Protocol, data forms, and spreadsheet available from website
    • http://oregon.gov/DSL/WETLAND/or_wet_prot.shtml
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetlands assessment for regulatory compliance
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Describe: Currently being integrated into the EcoMetrix method library
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Oregon Vernal Pool Method

  • Description: To provide a technique that (1) assesses 4 major functions and 7 values of vernal pool wetlands, (2) is standardized and rapid (in the sense that the procedure can be completed in one day or less), (3) is well-documented with scientific literature, mainly from Oregon, and (4) can be used to prioritize vernal pool complexes and compare them before and after restoration or impact. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling, Vernal Pool Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Adamus et al. 2007
    • http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/FieldOffices/Roseburg/VernalPools/Documents/AgateFunctionalAssessment.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: OR Individual vernal pools and vernal pool complexes in non-forested lowlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Pfankuch Channel Stability

  • Description: To provide information about the resistance of a channel to erosive forces acting upon its bed and banks and to suggest the capacity of streams to recover from changes in flow or increases in sediment. Nominal and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Impact Analyses - stream erosion.
  • Source:
    • Pfankuch 1975
  • Accessibility: Replaced with Rosgen
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: US Forest Service Northern Region
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Physical Habitat Simulation System

  • Description: The purpose of (PHABSIM) is to simulate a relationship between streamflow and physical habitat for various life stages of a species of fish or a recreational activity. The basic objective of physical habitat simulation is to obtain a representation of the physical stream so that the stream may be linked, through biological considerations, to the social, political, and economic world.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling, Socioeconomic Modeling, Predicted Species Distribution Modeling, Fish Habitat and Impact Assessment.
  • Source:
    • USGS
    • http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Products/Software/PHABSIM/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Discharge and habitat assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Proper Functioning Condition

  • Description: Uses the Ecological Site Inventory results to calculate conditions for riparian areas. There didn’t appear to be quantitative, objective, or clear measures attached to this. It is more of a framework. No detail review was conducted.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Landscape Condition Modeling, Riparian Condition Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Bureau of Land Management
    • ftp://ftp.blm.gov/pub/nstc/techrefs/Final%20TR%201737-9.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Riparian assessment tool
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index

  • Description: To provide a rapid, reproducible measure of stream habitat generally corresponding to the physical stream factors that affect fish communities and other aquatic life. Results in an index (scale 0 to 100), representing an evaluation of a stream’s macrohabitat characteristics that are important to fish communities relative to streams within a given watershed or region.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling, Habitat Impact Evaluation.
  • Source:
    • Midwest Biodiversity Institute for Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
    • http://epa.ohio.gov/portals/35/documents/QHEIManualJune2006.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol and data forms available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Habitat Assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Rapid Assessment Method for Oregon Tidal Fringe Wetlands

  • Description: To provide a technique that (1) assesses 13 recognized wetland functions and values of tidal marshes, (2) is standardized and rapid (in the sense that the procedure can be completed in one day or less), (3) is well-documented with scientific literature, and (4) can be used to compare tidal wetlands before and after restoration or impact. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Habiatat Assessment for Tidal Fringe Wetlands.
  • Source:
    • Adamus 2006
    • http://www.oregon.gov/DSL/WETLAND/tidal_HGM_guidebook.shtml
  • Accessibility: Protocol and spreadsheet available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: OR tidal wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for use in Streams and Wadeable Rivers: Periphyton, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Fish. Second Edition

  • Description: Developed to provide “a practical technical reference for conducting cost-effective biological assessments of lotic systems.”
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Assessment of Lotic systems.
  • Source:
    • US EPA
    • http://water.epa.gov/scitech/monitoring/rsl/bioassessment/index.cfm
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Rapid assessments of streams and rivers
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Rapid Stream Assessment Technique Field Methods

  • Description: To provide a simple, rapid reconnaissance-level assessment of stream quality conditions on a watershed scale. Descriptive and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Galli 1996
    • http://www.stormwatercenter.net/monitoring%20and%20assessment/rsat/smrc%20rsat.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: MD Piedmont non-limestone Piedmont streams with a watershed of approximately 100-150 square miles
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Remote Functional Wetland Assessment Model

  • Description: Assess wetlands in the project area in order to categorize them as suitable for conservation, enhancement, or restoration. Nominal and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Stallman et al. 2005
    • http://www.co.baldwin.al.us/Uploads/2005-05-17_BCWCP_Final_Doc_WebFormat.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Alabama Gulf Shore depressional, riverine, and flat wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Remotely Sensed Indicators for Monitoring Condition of Natural Habitat in Watersheds

  • Description: To characterize and assess trends in the general ecological condition of watersheds using a set of remotely sensed indicators of “natural habitat integrity.” Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Monitoring Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Tiner 2004
  • Accessibility: Available for purchase on Amazon.com
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide; all habitats within a watershed
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Riparian Community Type Classification of Utah and Southeastern Idaho - Inventory

  • Description: Provides a riparian community type classification system for use in the inventory of lands administered by the USDA Forest Service in Utah and southern Idaho. Descriptive output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Classification System (for riparian communities).
  • Source:
    • Padgett et al. 1989
  • Accessibility: Contact Wayne Padgett at wpadgett@fs.fed.us
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Utah and SE Idaho riparian communities
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Rogue River Project Rapid Assessment Method

  • Description: Provide a regional evaluation of the condition of wetland (river and lake) resources in order to aid in development of a watershed management plan. Nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Tilton et al. 1997
    • http://www.rougeriver.com/pdfs/wetlands/tm25.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Michigan Rogue River watershed
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Soil Management Assessment Framework

  • Description: To enhance and extend current soil assessment efforts by presenting a framework for assessing the impact of soil management practices on soil function. Ordinal scale output
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Soil Assessment.
  • Source:
    • http://www.swcs.org/documents/filelibrary/Andrewsetal2004.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Agricultural lands; intended as a national framework to be modified as necessary for more local use
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  South Australian Biodiversity Assessment Tool

  • Description: The Biodiversity Significance Index factors three components in to its assessment of biodiversity values: Conservation Significance (CS), Landscape Context (LC), and Habitat Condition (HC). The value of SABAT: Standardized/Objective Indexing Framework, Vegetation Association Benchmarks, Compares Apples with Oranges –in Standardized ‘Fruit Units’, Provides for Regional/State/larger BSI, Makes Complex Evaluations Simple, Spatial Database – In-Field Operations, Provides ‘Condition’ Benchmark for Ongoing Monitoring, Allows Roll-up for Regional M&E Framework,
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling, Landscape Condition Modeling, Biodiversity Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Government of South Australia, Dept of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation
  • Accessibility: Contact Australian Natural Resources Atlas at http://www.anra.gov.au/contacts/index.html
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Southern Australia: multiple habitat types
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Yes
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Southern California Riparian Ecosystem Assessment

  • Description: To assess hydrology, sediment processes, habitat support, and biogeochemistry components of riparian habitat using a watershed-based model in GIS software. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Landscape Condition Modeling, Riparian Ecosystem Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Stein et al. 2004
    • http://www.sccwrp.org/ResearchAreas/Wetlands/WetlandMonitoringAndAssessment/MappingAndLandscape-AssessmentTools/LandscapeRiparianEcosystemAssessmentMethod.aspx
  • Accessibility: Contact Martha Sutula at marthas@sccwrp.org (714) 755-3222.
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Southern CA riparian areas
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Spatial Wetland Assessment for Management and Planning

  • Description: To assess the level of water quality, wildlife habitat, and hydrologic functions of individual wetlands using a watershed-based model in GIS software. Nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Sutter 2001
  • Accessibility: Contact Alyssa Olson Callahan, NOAA-Perot 2234 South Hobson Ave, Charleston, SC 29405 Phone: 843-740-1219, Email: alyssa.olson-callahan@noaa.gov
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto River Basin, South Carolina tidal and riverine wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Stream and Riparian Habitats Rapid Assessment Protocol

  • Description: Provides a comprehensive stream and riparian corridor assessment and inventory protocol for use by trained practitioners to rapidly identify, assess, and prioritize physical stream corridor conditions. Ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream and Riparian Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Starr and McCandless 2001
  • Accessibility: Contact Tamara McCandless, USFWS Chesapeake Bay Field Office, 177 Admiral Cochrane Drive, Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone: 410-573-4552, Email: tamara.mccandless@fws.gov
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Chesapeake Bay stream and riparian habitats
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Stream Assessment in the VA Coastal Zone: Development of a Significant New Database and Interactive Assessment Application

  • Description: Development of a multivariate model of reference stream conditions for the Virginia Coastal Zone using biological, ecological, and geomorphological variables.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Virginia Commonwealth University, 2004
    • http://instar.vcu.edu/
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: VA coastal zone stream assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Stream Channel Reference Sites

  • Description: Provides techniques from numerous published sources for collecting a minimum set of high quality data necessary to quantify the physical character of streams for monitoring, impact assessment, inventory, response to management actions, etc. Descriptive and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream monitoring.
  • Source:
    • Harrelson et al. 1994
    • http://www.stream.fs.fed.us/publications/PDFs/RM245E.PDF
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide wadeable streams
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Stream Corridor Assessment Survey Protocols

  • Description: To rapidly assess the general physical condition of a stream system and identify the location of a variety of common environmental problems within the stream’s corridor. Not intended to be a detailed scientific survey, it provides a rapid method of examining an entire drainage network to target future monitoring, management or conservation efforts. One of the main goals is a prioritized list of problems to be corrected throughout an entire watershed. Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Yetman 2001
    • http://www.dnr.state.md.us/streams/stream_corridor.html
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: MD wadeable streams and rivers
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Stream Impact Assessment Manual for the Northern Virginia Stream Bank

  • Description: The purpose of the Manual is to describe a system whereby the user can rapidly assess the condition of a stream, in a repeatable manner, without specialized equipment or significant training.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream impact assessment.
  • Source:
    • Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. 2006
  • Accessibility: Contact Virginia DEQ
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Intended for use by regulatory agencies and the regulated public utilizing Clean Water Act and Virginia Water Protection permits that utilize compensation in the Northern Virginia Stream Bank.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Subjective Evaluation of Aquatic Habitats

  • Description: To provide a rapid holistic evaluation based on subjective assessments of physical, biological, and chemical parameters of the aquatic system. Descriptive, ordinal scale, and nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Aquatic Habitat Assessments.
  • Source:
    • http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Other-Services/Environmental-Reviews/Aquatic-Field-Habitat-Evaluations
  • Accessibility: Protocol and data forms available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: KS Ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial streams and small impoundments or large lakes
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Technique for the Functional Assessment of Non-tidal Wetlands in the Coastal Plain of VA

  • Description: A wetland functional assessment based on WET that assesses functions of non-tidal wetlands in the coastal plain of Virginia. Output is a rating system of high, medium, and low relative probability that a wetland has the opportunity to perform and/or be effective at performing a function.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 1991
  • Accessibility: Contact Virginia Institute of Marine Science
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: To evaluate the relationships among vegetation structure, function, and landscape position. Has been largely phased-out by HGM models.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Temperature Trading Platform

  • Description: Tool that allows landowners to draw a reach for riparian shade and estimate the temperature credits created. The tool is powered by a derivative of the Heat Source model rather than the shade-a-lator. Wetted width and some data still needs to be collected in the field, but most runs on spatial GIS layers.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Ecosystem Services - Trading.
  • Source:
    • Oregon State University
  • Accessibility: Contact OSU
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Temperature credit calculator
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Unified Stream Assessment - Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual No. 10

  • Description: The Unified Stream Assessment is a rapid technique to locate and evaluate problems and restoration opportunities within an urban stream corridor in Maryland.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Center for Watershed Protection (MD), 2005
    • http://actrees.org/files/Research/cfwp_manual10.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: MD subwatershed restoration planning
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:No
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method

  • Description: A functional assessment for wetlands and surface waters, but also applicable to several terrestrial habitat types. Quantifies gains and losses by developing a multiplier applied to area. Considers landscape support, water environment, and community structure. Also applies factors for time lag for recovery and risk of project failure.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Florida Department of Environmental Protection
    • http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/wetlands/mitigation/umam.htm
  • Accessibility: Protocol and forms available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland mitigation credit calculations
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Variables for Assessing Reasonable Mitigation in New Transportation

  • Description: To provide a framework to lessen and mitigate impacts to terrestrial environments. Nominal and ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Mitigation Assessment Framework.
  • Source:
    • Vermont Agency of Natural Resources 2004
    • http://www.dot.state.fl.us/emo/sched/ICOWET99.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Pennsylvania: Habitat not stated but implied that the framework is applicable to most habitats within a project area including, but not limited to shrubland, forest, prairie, wetlands, riparian areas, etc.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Vermont Stream Geomorphic Assessment Protocol Handbooks

  • Description: The Handbooks have a focus on those watershed process and features critical to its riparian corridor management objectives.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 2003
    • http://www.vtwaterquality.org/rivers/htm/rv_geoassesspro.htm
  • Accessibility: Handbooks available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Basin planning; river and riparian corridor protection, management, and restoration projects; aquatic and riparian habitat assessment; and hazard assessment to reduce property loss and damage from riverine erosion during floods.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Visual Stream Assessment Protocol

  • Description: NRCS has a number of protocols used by field staff to identify baseline farm conditions and to design conservation plans. Most are visual assessments that provide general scores of conditions.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ECS/aquatic/svapfnl.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Water quality assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Wadeable Stream Assessment Field Ops

  • Description: Contains the field operations and bioassessment methods for evaluating the health and biological integrity of wadeable freshwater streams throughout the US. These methods can be used to determine stream condition assessment and/or to monitor the effects of impacts on aquatic 155 organisms, particularly benthic acroinvertebrates. Descriptive, ordinal scale, nominal scale, and quantitative output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Stream Assessment.
  • Source:
    • EPA 2004
    • http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/streamsurvey/index.cfm
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Nationwide; Wadeable streams (generally stream orders 1-3, or higher orders in arid to semi-arid regions of the U.S.). Intermittent or ephemeral streams can be sampled using the WSA Field Ops protocols, but only when water is present in the channel.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Washington Aquatic Habitat Design Guidelines

  • Description: To characterize the present (and/or historic) state of habitat and the processes that create and maintain it so that problems and appropriate restoration options and obstacles can be identified and prioritized. No output units?
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Design.
  • Source:
    • Saldi-Caromile et al. 2004
    • http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/Topics/AquaticHabitats/Pages/aqr_aquatic_habitat_guidelines_program.aspx
  • Accessibility: Protocols available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: WA; Primarily aquatic habitat in streams, riparian areas, and standing water bodies
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Washington State Wetland Function Assessment Program

  • Description: The Wetlands Function Assessment Project was a statewide effort to develop relatively rapid, scientifically acceptable methods of assessing how well wetlands perform functions such as improving water quality, reducing floods, and providing wildlife habitat. The methods were developed for different wetland types in Washington State.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Washington State Department of Ecology
    • http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/wetlands/wfap/index.html
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland assessment
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Watershed Vulnerability Analysis

  • Description: To identify and classify subwatersheds that are vulnerable to changes in land use based on estimates of current and future impervious cover; and to identify subwatersheds that warrant restoration actions. Descriptive output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Watershed Modeling, Watershed Vulnerabilty Assessment.
  • Source:
    • Zielinski 2002
    • http://dnr.maryland.gov/watersheds/pubs/planninguserguide/tools/Tool12WatershedVulnerability.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Streams within subwatersheds. The model was based on research in the Pacific Northwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. However, supporting data exists for the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and Southeast.
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Watershed-Based Preliminary Assessment of Wetland Functions

  • Description: To provide a preliminary assessment of wetland functions based on enhanced National Wetlands Inventory digital data. The assessment uses a combination of wetland classifications, specifically the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s official system (Cowardin et al. 1979) and the classification system to enhance the NWI by adding LLWW descriptors for landscape position, landform, water flow path, and waterbody type (Tiner 2003a). Descriptive and nominal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Tiner 2003
    • http://library.fws.gov/Wetlands/corelate_wetlandsNE.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetlands and deepwater habitats of US; emphasis on wetlands including shallow open waterbodies. Correlations focus on Northeastern US
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Wetland Evaluation Technique

  • Description: WET is an initial, rapid assessment of wetland functions, designed to assess the qualitative probability that a wetland function will occur. WET has been superseded by more rigorous reference-based, regionally specific methods recently developed.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Adamus et al. 1987
  • Accessibility: Contact Paul Adamus at Adamus7@comcast.net
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Wetland consultants
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Yes
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Wetland Value Assessment Methodology

  • Description: Estimates wetland benefits of proposed wetland restoration projects submitted for funding under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA). The application in the plan formulation process is described in USGS (2006). Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling, Wetland Value - Ecosystem Services.
  • Source:
    • Environmental Work Group 2002
    • http://lacoast.gov/reports/wva/WVA%20Procedural%20Manual.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: LA coast marshlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Wildlife Habitat Appraisal Procedure

  • Description: To allow a qualitative holistic evaluation of wildlife habitat for particular tracts of land statewide (Texas) without imposing significant time requirements. WHAP is intended to be used for (a) evaluating impacts upon wildlife populations from development project alternatives, (b) establishing baseline conditions, (c) comparing tracts of land which are candidates for land acquisition or mitigation, and (d) evaluating general habitat quality and wildlife management potential for tracts of land over large geographical areas. Ordinal scale output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Habitat Suitability and Species Distribution Modeling, Landscape Condition Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Frye 1995
    • http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_0145.pdf
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: Texas; based on list of habitat classes; seems to represent all upland and wetland habitat in Texas (e.g., swamp, cultivated wetlands, water including ponds, and water treatment facilities, urban areas, dunes, beach).
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: No
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown
• 

  Wisconsin Wetland Assessment Methodology

  • Description: To provide a standardized process for the professional to evaluate the extent to which a specific wetland performs a given function. Descriptive output.
  • Applicable Areas of Modeling & Analysis: Wetlands Modeling.
  • Source:
    • Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2001
    • http://dnr.wi.gov/wetlands/methods.html
  • Accessibility: Protocol available from website
  • Ecosystem Credits Functionality:
    • Intended Use: WI wetlands
    • Is tool applicable at a site scale?:Unknown
    • Is tool able to calculate multi-resource credit?: Unknown
    • Is tool capable of being integrated into multiple-resource credit?: Unknown

• Permitting and compliance requirements in the study area
• Other regulation-based and voluntary conservation efforts that may identify species, habitats, or systems that require attention
• The regional mitigation need and banking (if used)
• Permitting documents from projects over the previous five years