The Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) provides guidance for ensuring that implementation of the conservation measures will be based on scientific information, methods, principles, and standards. As new information on species and their habitats are gathered the adaptive management process  reviews and incorporates this new information as appropriate. Successful implementation of the HCP with scientific rigor, adaptive management, and cost efficiency requires development of a science strategy to provide a structural framework for incorporating these factors into Reclamation's planning, implementation, and decision making processes.

The Science Strategy, which can be found here, was developed to address two decision-making functions: the implementation decision-making process; and the processes that can be used to identify uncertainties and knowledge gaps, develop monitoring and research priorities, and incorporate new knowledge into a transparent process. The Science Strategy provides for an adaptive management process for improving the effectiveness of HCP implementation based on monitoring and research results. Further, the Science Strategy provides a process for identifying monitoring and research priorities using a 5-year planning cycle and a process for annually implementing these 5-year priorities during each planning cycle. The Five-Year Monitoring and Research Priorities Report (2013-2017) can be found here.

In 2013, the AMP identified the need to develop an approach that identified, organized, and evaluated the current scientific knowledge, with the degree of uncertainty of the scientific knowledge and existing data, and the casual relationships between known biological processes, life history requirements, and controlling factors (drivers). Conceptual Ecological Models (CEM) are widely recognized and utilized in natural resource management and structured decision making as a tool for guiding management. In 2014, CEMs were developed and completed for the razorback sucker, southwestern willow, and yellow-billed cuckoo (LCR MSCP area only) with the remaining habitat creation species expected to be completed in in the beginning of 2016. The CEMs collectively and singly provide management with a record of the current knowledge, decisions made, and the next steps to be implemented.

You can see the Adaptive Management Conceptual Ecological Models presentation here (PDF).

Updated January 4, 2017