PROJECT FRAME (FRAMING RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT OF ECOSYSTEMS)

Project FRAME (Framing Research for the Adaptive Management of Ecosystems) is transforming the way that science is linked to natural resource management decision-making on federal lands. We do so at a time when federal land managers are called upon to make science-based decisions and to optimize the management of multiple resources under increased public scrutiny. Federal land managers need an adaptive management framework to accommodate changing conditions through use of the appropriate science and consensus-building processes. The FRAME project strategy is to couple the adaptive capabilities of the Modular Modeling System (MMS) with accepted principles of collaboration. Through a multi-Disciplinary USGS Project that includes partners from other agencies (NPS, BLM, BIA, and USFS) and from universities, we focused our initial efforts on natural resource and fire-management issues at Mesa Verde National Park. Our approach was to collaboratively engage the resource managers, modelers, and scientists in framing the science issues and in developing the appropriate science models to address the natural resource management issues. The principle models initially being used are the PRMS (Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System), and the SIMPPLLE model (SIMulating Patterns and Processes at Landscape Scales). Also being incorporated are results from a newly developed empirical sedimentation model related to post-fire runoff and erosion. Through the collaborative modeling effort at Mesa Verde, we have now developed a transportable methodology for collaboratively modeling integrated science for adaptive, multi-objective resource management that is applicable across a wide range of ecosystems.