Ecological Condition

Ross & Associates has the knowledge and experience to address complex ecosystem issues such as protection and restoration of endangered species, development of watershed strategies, and policies to protect coastal areas and forests. We work with a range of partners and disciplines to tackle challenging problems bounded by natural features, but needing political solutions. We assist with strategic planning, institutional and policy development, indicator definition and implementation, and process and information management for natural resource and ecosystem restoration and protection. We help agencies develop and implement systems to coordinate multiple agencies’ activities to achieve strategic ecological goals and we develop measures for reporting progress in those goals.

Selected Projects in This Area

Yakima Basin Facilitation

Ross & Associates is providing facilitation and process support to the US Bureau of Reclamation to help the Bureau understand the interests of the conservation community in Washington state regarding the viability of the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (IWRMP) being developed to support water supply, water rehydration, fish recovery and habitat restoration in the Yakima River Basin.

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Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund Reports to Congress

2010 Report to Congress, Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery FundSince 2003, Ross & Associates has worked with NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service to develop a framework for measuring progress in use of Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) resources and to publish the annual Report to Congress that describes the PCSRF activities. This work has entailed working closely with NMFS and state and tribal grantees to develop a performance measurement framework that provides indicators and measures of progress in salmon recovery.

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Endangered Species Act Reporting

Endangered Species Act ReportingRoss and Associates has provided support to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources to produce the first Endangered Species Act Section 6 Program Report. The Report provided a synopsis of the activities and programs developed by the 14 state grantees under the Protected Species Cooperative Conservation Grant Program that have direct conservation benefits for listed species, recently de-listed species, and candidate species.

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Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives

Ross & Associates provides strategic facilitation, process management, and analytic support to major collaborative initiatives to protect and restore the Great Lakes. Beginning in 2005, Ross supported the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO), along with numerous government, NGO, and industry partners, to implement the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration and develop a comprehensive strategy for restoring the Great Lakes. Ross supported issue teams addressing topics including invasive species, protection and restoration of native fish and wildlife species and habitats, performance indicators, and information management.

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