BLM Vulnerability to Climate Change

Ecotrust created the value-additions to the Watershed and Subwatershed hydrologic unit boundaries for our BLM Priorities tool project in 2013. More information can be found at: http://aquatics-blm.labs.ecotrust.org/

The Watershed and Subwatershed hydrologic unit boundaries provide a uniquely identified and uniform method of subdividing large drainage areas. The smaller sized 6th level sub-watersheds (up to 250,000 acres) are useful for numerous application programs supported by a variety of local, State, and Federal Agencies. This data set is intended to be used as a tool for water-resource management and planning activities, particularly for site-specific and localized studies requiring a level of detail provided by large-scale map information. The dataset is seamless and, for the most part, a nationally consistant geospatial database.

The Bureau of Land Management Aquatic Priorities Tool was created – using this priorities framework –to help the BLM identify aquatic conservation priorities down to the fifth-field scale in eastern Oregon and Washington. It now allows users to identify priority species and consider current and future landscape conditions in order to create watershed priorities across or within the North Pacific region. The watershed factors considered are fish distribution, watershed condition, vulnerability to climate change, and vulnerability to aquatic invasion. The tool also considers the extent to which a stream lies within BLM boundaries.