TRB 2014: Geospatial Research Session to benefit environmental and historic resource values: request for input!

[Burns, Joseph A -FS]

Geographic Information Sciences and Application Committee (ABJ60)

 

Dear Colleagues:

 

Carol Legard, Member, of the Historic and Archaeological Preservation in Transportation Committee (ADC50) has expressed interest in a jointly sponsored session on Programmatic Agreements to advance FHWA’s Every Day Counts Initiative.

 

This aligns nicely with my proposal to ADC 30, ADC10, ADD50 and ABJ60 to enhance early coordination of project planning across multiple transportation priorities (see below).

 

A research question I pose to each of you in ABJ60:

 

What geospatial tools do we have or can we develop or refine to better protect:

 

1.       Historic properties and archaeological features?

2.       Unique or valuable environmental resources, such as clean air, water, fish & wildlife habitat, notably for at-risk species?

3.       Protect or inform environmental justice communities?

4.       Transportation projects from extreme environmental effects such as fire, floods, winds etc?

 

What performance measures might we use when preparing environmental analysis of transportation plans, projects or alternatives and what geospatial tools are available or needed to analyze alternatives across multiple planning priorities such as those list above?  The development of performance measures are critical in the successful implementation of programmatic agreements  to ensure that the goals and objectives proposed are actually met over time.  Geospatial tools to map critical features and to track performance/protection of those features are valuable. 

 

Carol proposes a research session of developing programmatic agreements A programmatic agreement could evaluate the environmental context of a transportation planning unit and develop an organizing principle to address a plans primary purpose and need.

 

What is an example of a cross-cutting performance measure that can be evaluated with geo-spatial tools and which might show benefits to multiple planning/environmental priorities?

 

My favorite example is acres or acres of feet of wetland/floodplain protection.

 

Increasing protection of wetland and floodplain can protect wetlands and improve water quality.  But it also reduces flood damage to historic properties near water bodies historically used for transportation.   EJ communities living in urban centers prone to flood damage can design wetland protection to reduce threats to their homes.

 

Certainly as a biodiversity advocate, protecting a network of wetlands and floodplains within a watershed provide a foundation for protecting a range of multiple species and habitats across a spectrum of habitats along a wet-dry continuum that is inherently climate change adaptable. 

 

If you are interested in editing an attached proposal to highlight geospatial research needs to benefit programmatic approaches, please reply.

 

Carol and I hope to draft an outline next week for consideration for delivery this January.  We hope the panel proposal will gather interest from various TRB committees sufficiently to attract a range of committee members to the January session and fuel a discussion on geospatial research needs.

 

We are looking for speakers who can offer case studies or geospatial tools or who are willing to find speakers and assist in the development of follow-up research problem statements.!

 

Questions?  Please give me a call or send me an email with a copy to Matt Delmuro (matt.d...@gmail.com) and Carol Legard  (cle...@achp.gov)

 

Thanks for your consideration!

 

Joe b

ADC30 – member

ABJ60 – member

ADC30 – Friend

ADD50 – Friend

ADC 10 – Friend

 

 

 

 

 

From: Quiroga, Cesar [mailto:C-Qu...@tamu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 10:14 PM
To: Burns, Joseph A -FS
Cc: James Hall (Jha...@uis.edu); matt.d...@gmail.com
Subject: RE: Geospatial Research Session: request for volunteers

 

Joe – ABJ60 strongly supports this initiative.  Thanks for your leadership.

 

Regards,

 

Cesar

 

From: Burns, Joseph A -FS [mailto:jab...@fs.fed.us]
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 7:39 PM
To: Alex Levy "Levy, Alex" "Levy, Alex" <Alex...@arcadis-us.com> (Alex...@arcadis-us.com); Quiroga, Cesar
Cc: Carol Legard "Carol Legard" "Carol Legard" <cle...@achp.gov> (cle...@achp.gov); Matthew Del Muro (matt.d...@gmail.com); jimmy...@oregonstate.edu; Hilary Perkins (Hilary....@gmail.com); Anne Morris; Muggs Stoll "Stoll, Muggs" "Stoll, Muggs" <m...@sandag.org> (m...@sandag.org)
Subject: Geospatial Research Session: request for volunteers

 

 

     Ecology and Transportation (ADC30)

     Geographic Information Sciences and Application (ABJ60):

     Environmental Justice  (ADD50)

     Archaeology and Historic Preservation (ADC50)

     Environmental Analysis in Transportation (ADC10)

 

Dear Committee chairs, Members, Friends:

    

I am proposing to develop a research session on geospatial tools and applications to discuss research needs to enhance integration of social, economic and environmental considerations.

 

If you are interested in supporting the development of such as session, please reply to me with a copy to Matt Del Muro (matt.delmuro@gmailcom).

Matt will post this email and additional information on the ABJ60.net for members and friends of ABJ60

 

===============================

To stimulate ideas:

 

We could have a moderator who is from a  Metropolitan Planning Organization/ Council of Government or a NEPA specialist that could set the stage and ID challenges for optimizing across the social, economic and environmental spectrum.

 

An ecologist who could discuss ecological/environmental concerns and geospatial tools such as predicting species occurrences.

 

An engineer or geographer could discuss applications or geospatial tools such as LiDar or other remote sensing applications that could be used to characterize wetland or aquatic conditions important to the health and safety of environmental justice communities or to reduce flood damage or operation/maintenance costs important to DOT’s.

 

We could have an ecologist or agroforestry specialist who could discuss use of vegetation to restore or enhance ecosystem services or functions impacted by transportation systems. 

 

Ideally, I am looking for resource specialists who can apply an understanding of environmental conditions to address not only environmental concerns but which has crosscutting values to other transportation planning considerations.

 

When Matt posts to the ABJ60 website, I am hoping to engage ABJ60 members who may be interested in helping me pull together a geospatial research workshop where explore different applications used by various consulting companies and who can discuss challenges or needs for enhancing integration.  We may not have time to plan a workshop for this year, but it could fuel a summer meeting or a workshop the following year.

 

Thoughts? 

 

Joe b

ADC 30 member

ABJ60  member

 

 

J.A.Burns  - CWB

National Threatened, Endangered & Sensitive Species Program Leader

U.S. Forest Service – Headquarters                       Soft Phone:   (202) 205-0919

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