RESEARCH in progress . . . . . science partners:
USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Stewardship Mapping: geographic locations of stewardship
organizations and project locations in metropolitan Seattle Project Goals •
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Publish stewardship m ap in a publicly accessible format that allows a range of users to view organizations’ stewardship territory and contact information Add geographic tags to existing organizational survey data Create a data format that makes additional ecological or social analysis possible, and Reveal the impact of stewardship organizations on people and the land. Example of what a map of stewardship activity in Seattle might look like. Content includes project territories and contact information of each host organization. What Is the Issue? Volunteer-based stewardship is an action strategy for ecosystem recovery and managment.
Yet we do not fully understand the scale and scope of stewardship, or its impact on both the environment and human communities. Civic environmental stewardship is inherently tied to place. This project will display survey data as a geospatial representation of each organization’s stewardship “territory” on a publicly accessible online platform to promote Study Approach Initial organizational data was prepared using an iterative internet search. A follow-up survey expanded the known population of organizations, providing data for a network analysis. Geospatial representation of the regional footprint of stewardship sites will be the culminating effort. Collaborators: Northern Research Station (New York and Chicago), Baltimore Ecosystem Study. partnership opportunities. Knowledge about the entire stewardship “footprint” can support better planning and focus of projects. Why Is This Research Important?
Natural systems across the entire wildland to urban landscape gradient face ongoing threats, such as land use sprawl, air and water pollution, and climate change. Yet fiscal shortfalls in local government and environmental resource agencies restrict their capacity to address ecosystem needs and recovery. Civic environmental stewardship programs are one possible solution. Better data and knowledge about stewardship activity can inform comprehensive planning and management. By defining and analyzing stewardship within a geographic Research Sponsors context, hot spots and gaps can be shown and the relationship between stewardship and other social and environmental factors can be more easily identified. Contact: KATHLEEN WOLF, University of Washington: email: kwolf@uw.edu May 2014
Funding for this work is provided by the United States American Reinvestment and Recovery Act coordinated by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (in education and training programs and activities), age, disability, or retaliation.