Madrean Archipelago Rapid Ecoregional Assessment - Executive Summary

Executive Summary

This executive summary describes the breadth of the entire Madrean Archipelago (MAR) Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA) and illustrates examples from all of the products. It does not summarize methods but instead focuses on products, key findings, and limitations. Because of the breadth and number of assessments, this summary is necessarily longer than a typical executive summary and is intended to give a brief but fairly complete picture of the MAR REA results.

Rapid Ecoregional Assessments: Purpose and Scope

Working with agency partners, the BLM is conducting rapid ecoregional assessments (REAs) covering approximately 800 million acres of public and non-public lands in 14 ecoregions and combinations of ecoregions in the American West. The goal of the REAs is to characterize the status of ecological resources and their potential to change from a landscape viewpoint. REAs are intended to serve BLM’s developing Ecoregional Direction that links REAs and the BLM’s Resource Management Plans and other on-the-ground decision-making processes. Ecoregional Direction establishes a regional roadmap for reviewing and updating Resource Management Plans; developing multi-year work for identified priority conservation, restoration, and development areas; establishing Best Management Practices for authorized use; designing regional adaptation and mitigation strategies; and developing conservation land acquisitions. While REAs produce information designed to be integrated into specific management processes, they are not decision documents and stop short of integrating the findings into management actions.

(Appendix F - Species and Species Assemblages: Conceptual Models and Ecological Status)