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RESTORATION PLUS: A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT OPTIONS TO ACHIEVE ECOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
Citation:
U.S. EPA, J. R. WILLIAMS, H. THURSTON, W. D. SHUSTER, J. NEWLAND, AND R. BROOKS. RESTORATION PLUS: A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT OPTIONS TO ACHIEVE ECOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS . Presented at BOSC Panel Independent Peer Review, Research Triangle Park, NC, March 07 - 09, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
EPA is evaluating ecosystem restoration and management techniques to ensure they create sustainable solutions for degraded watersheds. ORD NRMRL initiated the Restoration Plus (RePlus) program in 2002 to a) evaluate ecosystem restoration and management options, b) assess the non-monetary and economic benefits of restoration, and c) develop and evaluate strategies for use by watershed managers and others to make appropriate restoration and management choices, where those choices have to incorporate community-based socioeconomic decisions and political realities. This poster describes research on: 1) the development and testing of a GIS ecosystem restoration prioritization framework for the Mid-Atlantic Highlands, which is an extension of watershed mapping and classification methods developed in a recent STAR grant; 2) the development of techniques for valuation of non-monetary restoration benefits; and 3) the assessment of the use of an auction/bidding system as an incentive for implementation of on-lot storm water management BMPs in a residential neighborhood. RePlus research is targeted to demonstrate proof-of-concept integrated assessments for allocation of environmental management resources within the context of socioeconomic factors and ecological integrity. Products will be used to enable watershed stakeholders to select and implement sustainable watershed management and restoration decisions.