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In April 2016, in response to the White House Memorandum M-16-01, Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Federal Decision Making (Memorandum), The Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Policy Analysis gathered representatives from 12 DOI bureaus and offices to form the DOI Ecosystem Services Task Force. The following DOI bureaus or offices are represented on the Taskforce: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Department of the Interior; Office of Policy Analysis (PPA) Department of the Interior; Office of the Secretary (OS) Department of the Interior; Office...
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In addition to methodological standards for performing analyses, DOI bureaus and offices would benefit from high-level guidance that would identify principles and provide an overall direction for the Department. The objective of this effort is to determine the value of establishing short term, general Department level standards on incorporation of ecosystem services into Interior decision-making, as well as specifically in the context of NEPA. Topics may include: developing a set of “guiding principles;” incorporating ecosystem services more explicitly in the Departmental Manual; identifying approaches for maximizing social well-being across the various potential uses of public lands; revisions to the NEPA section...
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Natural resource planning at all scales demands methods for assessing the impacts of resource development and use, and in particular it requires standardized methods that yield robust and unbiased results. Building from existing probabilistic methods for assessing the volumes of energy and mineral resources, we provide an algorithm for consistent, reproducible, quantitative assessment of resource development impacts. The approach combines probabilistic input data with Monte Carlo statistical methods to determine probabilistic outputs that convey the uncertainties inherent in the data. For example, one can utilize our algorithm to combine data from a natural gas resource assessment with maps of sage grouse leks and...
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The Department of Interior plays an integral role in conserving America’s natural resources and heritage, honoring our cultures and tribal communities, and supplying the energy to power our future. In doing so, DOI’s people, programs, responsibilities, and missions support Americans across all 50 States and territories. Interior grants access to public lands and offshore areas for renewable and conventional energy development — covering roughly a quarter of the Nation’s domestic supplies of oil and natural gas — while ensuring safety, environmental protection, and revenue collection for the American public. DOI oversees the protection and restoration of surface mined lands and is the largest supplier and manager...
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Resource assessments constitute a key part of the USGS mission, and represent a crucial contribution toward Department of the Interior (DOI) and broader Federal objectives. Current USGS energy and mineral assessment methods evaluate total technically recoverable resources (energy) or economically exploitable materials (minerals); the fiscal year 2010 budget for this work is $82M. To help stakeholders respond to escalating national and worldwide demand for energy, mineral, water, and biological resources, the USGS will expand existing assessment methods to include the environmental and human-health impacts of resource extraction and use, along with multi-resource dependencies and conflicts. This Powell Center working...
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