Abstract
A decision framework for setting management
goals for species at risk is presented. Species at risk are
those whose potential future rarity is of concern. Listing
these species as threatened or endangered could potentially
result in significant restrictions to activities in resource
management areas in order to maintain those species. The
decision framework, designed to foster proactive management,
has nine steps: identify species at risk on and near the
management area, describe available information and
potential information gaps for each species, determine the
potential distribution of species and their habitat, select
metrics for describing species status, assess the status of
local population or metapopulation, conduct threat assessment,
set and prioritize management goals, develop species
management plans, and develop criteria for ending special
species management where possible. This framework will
aid resource managers in setting management goals that
minimally impact human activities while reducing the
likelihood that species at risk will become rare in the near
future. The management areas in many of the examples are
United States (US) military installations, which are concerned
about potential restrictions to military training
capacity if species at risk become regulated under the US
Endangered Species Act. The benefits of the proactive
management set forth in this formal decision framework
are that it is impartial, provides a clear procedure, calls for
identification of causal relationships that may not be
obvious, provides a way to target the most urgent needs,
reduces costs, enhances public confidence, and, most
importantly, decreases the chance of species becoming
more rare.
