United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain Research Station

General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-234WWW

January 2010

Landres, Peter, ed. 2010. A framework to evaluate proposals for scientific activities in wilderness. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-234WWW. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 74 p.

Abstract Every year, the four Federal wilderness management agencies—U.S. DOI Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and the USDA Forest Ser-vice—receive hundreds of proposals to conduct scientific studies within wilderness. There is no consistent and comprehensive framework for evaluating such proposals that accounts for the unique legal requirements of conducting such work inside wilderness, specifically the primary mandate of the 1964 Wilderness Act to “preserve wilderness character.” This man-date demands that the standard for approving scientific activities be higher inside wilderness than in other areas. This evaluation framework provides an approach for thinking through and documenting how proposals for scientific activities in wilderness may be evaluated in these wilderness management agencies based on four sequential filters: (1) Initial Review Filter, (2) Quality of Proposal Filter, (3) Legal and Policy Filter, and (4) Impacts and Benefits Filter. By using this framework, managers and scientists alike know up-front how proposals will be evaluated, fostering better communication. This framework aims to reduce conflict, help make defensible decisions, and document how those decisions are made. Our goals in developing this framework are to increase the relevance of science to improving wilderness stewardship and to bring the benefits of wilderness to society while preserving wilderness character.

Keywords: wilderness, scientific activities, scientific evaluation, wilderness permitting

AuthorsPeter Landres is an Ecologist at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT.

Mark Fincher is the Wilderness Specialist at Yosemite National Park, National Park Service, El Portal, CA.

Lewis Sharman is an Ecologist at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, National Park Service, Gustavus, AK.

Judy Alderson is the Regional Wilderness Program Manager, Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service, Anchorage, AK.

Chris Barns is the Bureau of Land Management representative at the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, Missoula, MT.

Tom Carlson is the USDA Forest Service representative at the Arthur Carhart National Wil-derness Training Center, Missoula, MT.

Richard L. Anderson is the Compliance Coordinator at the Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service, Anchorage, AK.

Susan Boudreau is the Superintendent at Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, National Park Service, Skagway, AK.

David J. Parsons is the Director of the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT.

Laurel Boyers (retired) was formerly the Wilderness Manager at Yosemite National Park, National Park Service, El Portal, CA.

Kevin Hood is the Coordinator for Special Uses/Wilderness/Outdoor Ethics (LNT) at Admiralty Island National Monument and the Juneau Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest, Juneau, AK.

Acknowledgments This framework was initially developed through a 2001 interagency workshop. We are indebted to the participants: Robin West and Danny Gomez (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service); Bruce Van Haveren (Bureau of Land Management); Steve Bair, John Dennis, and David Graber (National Park Service); Dan Fagre (U.S. Geological Survey); and Kendall Clark and John Romanowski (USDA Forest Service). We thank the participants, especially Allison Banks and Greg Streveler, in a workshop held at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve to develop an initial working model of this framework. We thank Tomie Lee, former Park superintendent, for her support and encour-agement. Joe Van Horn, Wilderness Program Coordinator for Denali National Park and Preserve, was instrumental in keeping our feet to the wilderness fire. Rob Mason, a former wilderness manager for the Forest Service, offered thoughtful advice on ways to make this evaluation framework more practical and useful to wilderness managers. Many other people offered cogent comments and suggestions, including Paul Gleeson, Gordon Olson, and the many workshop and discussion participants at several biennial George Wright Society meetings where previous drafts of this framework were presented. We thank Rick Potts, former Chief of Wilderness Stewardship and Recreation Management in the National Park Service, for his unflagging support and encouragement. And we sincerely appreciate all the members of the National Park Service’s National Wilderness Steering Com-mittee (now Wilderness Leadership Council) for their sustained interest and assistance in reviewing and revising this framework. We are especially grateful to Bob Winfree, National Park Service Alaska Regional Science Advisor, for sharing his depth of experience and for his help, support, and feedback throughout the many stages of developing this evaluation framework. David Graber, Chief Scientist for the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, and Steve Ulvi (now retired from the National Park Service) were constant sources of wisdom, support, and humor to help us think through many difficult issues and decisions and to keep us focused on how to simultaneously support science and preserve wilderness character.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Why is this evaluation framework needed?

How does this evaluation framework work?

A Framework to Evaluate Proposals for Scientific Activities in Wilderness

Peter Landres, Mark Fincher, Lewis Sharman, Judy Alderson, Chris Barns, Tom Carlson, Richard L. Anderson, Susan Boudreau,

David J. Parsons, Laurel Boyers, and Kevin Hood

Introduction

Evaluation Framework Goals

Limitations and Cautions

Compliance Requirements

Evaluation Framework Overview

Initial Review Filter

Quality of Proposal Filter

Legal and Policy Filter

Proposals with Section 4(c) Prohibited Uses

Proposals Without Section 4(c) Prohibited Uses

Impacts and Benefits Filter

Numerical Scoring

Local Flexibility

Benefits Assessment

Impacts Assessment

Benefits and Impacts Decision Table

Cumulative Impacts Assessment

References

Appendix A—Hypothetical Example of Climate Change Research Evaluation

Appendix B—Guidelines for Scientists Conducting Research in Wilderness

Education

Communication

In the Field

Appendix C—Agency Policies on Research and Scientific Activities

U.S Department of Agriculture—Forest Service

U.S. Department of the Interior—Bureau of Land Management

U.S. Department of the Interior—Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Department of the Interior—National Park Service

Appendix D—Yosemite Wilderness Hypothetical Example—Benefits and

Impacts Assessment Worksheets

Yosemite Wilderness Hypothetical Example — Benefits Assessment Worksheet (CONTINUED)

Yosemite Wilderness Hypothetical Example Rationale for Benefits Assessment Worksheet Weighting Factors

Yosemite Wilderness Hypothetical Example — Impacts Assessment Worksheet

Yosemite Wilderness Hypothetical Example Rationale for Impact Assessment Worksheet Scores

Appendix E—Worksheets

Instructions for Using the Worksheets

Impacts and Benefits Filter — Benefits Assessment Worksheet (CONTINUED)

Impacts and Benefits Filter — Impacts Assessment Worksheet

Rocky Mountain Research Station