Budd Inlet landscape planning and visioning (Squaxin Island Tribe)

Scott Steltzner, biologist for the Squaxin Island Tribe, is presenting on landscape planning and visioning for Budd Inlet. Here’s a post over at the tribe’s blog about a landscape analysis that is at the heart of this process.

This isn’t a modelling effort, its a strategy. Very typical of South Sound inlets, very tall, very narrow.

Started with a group of experts that had a lot of knowledge about the inlet, move to landscape analysis and then onto creating a strategy.

Developed the landscape analysis around the concept of catchments, which are small watersheds, basically. Also, considered the nearshore zone. The end result of the analysis is a landscape score. In this case, it matters how your neighbors scored.

The analysis can be focussed to identify a strategy based on certain species, like forage fish or birds.

Its not a one time “colors on a map” that will never change. They can bring in new information to update the map. You can also overlay existing strategies to see if they make sense, such as the local salmon recovery strategy.