User:Northwest Habitat Institute

The Northwest Habitat Institute (NHI) is a non-profit scientific and educational organization dedicated to habitat preservation, conservation and sustainable ecosystems. Founded in 1998 by Thomas A. O'Neill, Meg Shaughnessy, and Chris Killsgaard. Northwest Habitat Institute is one of the most unique organizations in the world using science and education to promote and facilitate the conservation of native species and habitats through; the development and dissemination of data-rich and verifiable information, maps, and tools; and restoration and enhancement of native habitats. As well as specific objectives of NHI include developing products and tools that assist landowners and land managers conserve native species and habitats, developing and implementing inventorying and monitoring programs, and coordinating and facilitating activities (e.g., habitat restoration,land-use planning and management objectives) that promote the conservation and management of our natural resources.

Thomas A. O'Neill and NHI's latest innovative endeavor is the development of a management tool for habitat appraisal; Combined Habitat Assessment Protocols (CHAP) that uses Species, Habitats, and Functions to calculate the intrinsic value of any wildlife-habitat type. Mr. O'Neill received a patent for the method, A System to Assess Habitat Value in March 2010. CHAP's revolutionary approach to appraising fish and wildlife habitats allows for determination of an ecologically based condition that realistically depicts a site's habitat characteristics as well as multi-species, including invasive plants and other anthropogenic effects. This tool is being used by several resource agencies and is the foundation for the accounting of debits and credits for a settlement between Oregon and Bonneville Power Administration that was signed by the Oregon Governor in October 2010 for $150 million. The original purpose of CHAP was for Statewide Mitigation Banking Program.

NHI's current thinking has now migrated pass solely focusing on the concept of sustainable development to recognize that sustainability is a much more complex and dynamic concept. Our definition of sustainability recognizes that maintaining and sustaining ecosystems is necessary for sustaining economies and human communities. Hence, sustainability is about long-term maintainance of ecosystems, and why our current path which is in Search of Sustainability will not work to sustain our children and future generations. An example of why sustainability will not work can be found in a recent Al Gore speech http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/gorespeech/ when trying to address the environment effects from not understanding the consequences of our actions and ignoring what science is telling us. Consequently to begin to make sense of all that we think we know or do know; 7 steps are suggested to form a framework to bring about change in a common sense fashion. They are:

7 Steps to Ecological, Social & Economic Common Sense

1) Establish and confirm a new environmental ethic by drafting a National Declaration of Interdependence as a means to rebuild and reaffirm this ethics towards our natural resources [ethics]. Work with environmental and other societial groups to unite the message and movement [capacity building];

2) Cause no harm and collaborate with others; establish policies that favor sustainability for the long-term foster a new environmental attitude (retire short-term policies that favour only short-term benefits) [capacity building];

3) Substantiate a common value system that will resonate with the public including educate the public as to how ecosystem services and management can help society and creating a new ecological or habitat currency for the United States [science & education];

4) Develop a common language including comprehensive data collection as a key component of sustainable natural resource management. Use web-based GIS to create pictures of concepts, assessments, and showing future outcomes, (data) [information infrastructure];

5) Convert to and use new economic, social, and environmental indicators that better represent the environmental health of our nation, favour agreed upon lists of important goals, indicators and monitoring proceducres that can be used to implement progressive social change [economics, social, and science];

6) Create a greater awareness for planning for future generations; encourage communities to develop their own unique clock, an engineering feature or artisitic sculptor that represents future generations [education & community development]; and

7) Value all Cultures - identify and respect our diverse cultures and their key functional connections to our environment and economy [social].

NHI's office is located in Corvallis, OR. http://www.nwhi.org/index/