Development of an Implementation Strategy for the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve Comprehensive Management Plan by Means of Structured Decision Making and Stakeholder Engagement
Dates
Start Date
2024-04-01
End Date
2025-03-31
Summary
New York State Department of State (NYSDOS), together with South Shore Estuary stakeholders and local, state, and federal agencies work together to ensure the protection and preservation of the cultural and natural resources of the South Shore Estuary. To this end, the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) lists the major goals and objectives for the SSER, including stormwater and nutrient pollution reduction; wetland, seagrass, and shellfish habitat restoration; increasing available open space; preventing harmful algal blooms; building resilient ecosystems and coastlines; and improving public outreach and education on the value of the South Shore Estuary. The logical next step is to develop [...]
Summary
New York State Department of State (NYSDOS), together with South Shore Estuary stakeholders and local, state, and federal agencies work together to ensure the protection and preservation of the cultural and natural resources of the South Shore Estuary. To this end, the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) lists the major goals and objectives for the SSER, including stormwater and nutrient pollution reduction; wetland, seagrass, and shellfish habitat restoration; increasing available open space; preventing harmful algal blooms; building resilient ecosystems and coastlines; and improving public outreach and education on the value of the South Shore Estuary. The logical next step is to develop a detailed implementation strategy to achieve the goals and objectives set forth by the CMP. The multi-disciplinary and impartial nature of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) makes it uniquely qualified to help NYSDOS develop an implementation strategy that addresses the multitude of diverse challenges laid out in the CMP and to balance the needs of multiple stakeholders with disparate and sometimes competing needs.
Decision analysis is used to inform complex decisions regarding natural resource management, and the USGS has worked with decision makers and stakeholders to help frame and analyze many types of natural-resources-decision problems. USGS will hold a series of workshops to: 1) identify stakeholder priorities among those identified in the CMP by means of the Structured Decision Making (SDM) PrOACT (Problem, Framing, Objectives, Alternatives, Consequences, and Tradeoffs) process; and 2) help NYSDOS develop a phased implementation strategy based on stakeholder priorities and likely net benefit(s) realized.