The Bighorn Habitat Assessment Tool: A Method to Quantify Conservation Value on Landscapes Impacted by Mining

Dayan J. Anderson, Vernon C. Bleich and Jeffrey T. Villepique
Additional contact information
Dayan J. Anderson: Department of Environmental Studies, Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT 05764, USA
Vernon C. Bleich: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Jeffrey T. Villepique: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ontario, CA 91764, USA

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: We present a methodology to assess the conservation value of mitigation lands for desert bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis nelsoni ) within landscapes impacted by historic and ongoing industrial uses. The Bighorn Habitat Assessment Tool (BHAT) was developed to support the adaptive management of the Cushenbury population of bighorn sheep located on the north slope of the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California, USA. We use a novel formulation of conservation value integrating the results of resource selection function analysis and reclamation credits, reflecting the degree to which degraded habitat is enhanced to benefit wild sheep. Our method seeks to balance conservation objectives simultaneously with the economic development of a working mine landscape. Specifically, the BHAT can be used to (a) establish a habitat reserve providing maximum benefit to the unique requirements of bighorn sheep; (b) incentivize voluntary action by industry to ensure mining activities are compatible with conservation; (c) allow for the evaluation of multiple mine planning and resource management alternatives; and (d) ensure that future compensatory mitigation actions for mining activity are grounded in the best available science. Our methodology is transferrable to the management of other wild sheep populations occupying mine-influenced landscapes for which sufficient data are available to complete resource selection analyses.

Keywords: biodiversity offsets; mitigation hierarchy; conservation value; decision support tools; resource selection; adaptive management; mining; desert bighorn sheep; Ovis canadensis nelsoni (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/552/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/552/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:4:p:552-:d:789993

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().