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Hurdles to developing quantitative decision support for Endangered Species Act resource allocation

Publication ,  Journal Article
Iacona, GD; Avery-Gomm, S; Maloney, RF; Brazill-Boast, J; Crouse, DT; Drew, CA; Epanchin-Niell, RS; Hall, SB; Maguire, LA; Male, T; Newman, J ...
Published in: Frontiers in Conservation Science
January 1, 2022

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversees the recovery of many species protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Recent research suggests that a structured approach to allocating conservation resources could increase recovery outcomes for ESA listed species. Quantitative approaches to decision support can efficiently allocate limited financial resources and maximize desired outcomes. Yet, developing quantitative decision support under real-world constraints is challenging. Approaches that pair research teams and end-users are generally the most effective. However, co-development requires overcoming “hurdles” that can arise because of differences in the mental models of the co-development team. These include perceptions that: (1) scarce funds should be spent on action, not decision support; (2) quantitative approaches are only useful for simple decisions; (3) quantitative tools are inflexible and prescriptive black boxes; (4) available data are not good enough to support decisions; and (5) prioritization means admitting defeat. Here, we describe how we addressed these misperceptions during the development of a prototype resource allocation decision support tool for understanding trade-offs in U.S. endangered species recovery. We describe how acknowledging these hurdles and identifying solutions enabled us to progress with development. We believe that our experience can assist other applications of developing quantitative decision support for resource allocation.

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Published In

Frontiers in Conservation Science

DOI

EISSN

2673-611X

Publication Date

January 1, 2022

Volume

3

Related Subject Headings

  • 4302 Heritage, archive and museum studies
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 3301 Architecture
 

Citation

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Iacona, G. D., Avery-Gomm, S., Maloney, R. F., Brazill-Boast, J., Crouse, D. T., Drew, C. A., … Gerber, L. R. (2022). Hurdles to developing quantitative decision support for Endangered Species Act resource allocation. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.1002804
Iacona, G. D., S. Avery-Gomm, R. F. Maloney, J. Brazill-Boast, D. T. Crouse, C. A. Drew, R. S. Epanchin-Niell, et al. “Hurdles to developing quantitative decision support for Endangered Species Act resource allocation.” Frontiers in Conservation Science 3 (January 1, 2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.1002804.
Iacona GD, Avery-Gomm S, Maloney RF, Brazill-Boast J, Crouse DT, Drew CA, et al. Hurdles to developing quantitative decision support for Endangered Species Act resource allocation. Frontiers in Conservation Science. 2022 Jan 1;3.
Iacona, G. D., et al. “Hurdles to developing quantitative decision support for Endangered Species Act resource allocation.” Frontiers in Conservation Science, vol. 3, Jan. 2022. Scopus, doi:10.3389/fcosc.2022.1002804.
Iacona GD, Avery-Gomm S, Maloney RF, Brazill-Boast J, Crouse DT, Drew CA, Epanchin-Niell RS, Hall SB, Maguire LA, Male T, Newman J, Possingham HP, Rumpff L, Runge MC, Weiss KCB, Wilson RS, Zablan MA, Gerber LR. Hurdles to developing quantitative decision support for Endangered Species Act resource allocation. Frontiers in Conservation Science. 2022 Jan 1;3.

Published In

Frontiers in Conservation Science

DOI

EISSN

2673-611X

Publication Date

January 1, 2022

Volume

3

Related Subject Headings

  • 4302 Heritage, archive and museum studies
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 3301 Architecture