Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The goal of this project is to develop a holistic, data-driven process for identifying (1) priority watersheds and sites and (2) habitat and connectivity restoration actions. To clearly articulate ecological problems that stakeholders are interested in, we will convene a Structured Decision-Making (SDM) workshop with several stakeholders and decision-makers, including government agencies (federal, state, and local), watershed groups, and other non-profit organizations. Then, we will develop a shared understanding of watershed processes within the system by co-developing a conceptual model of the social and eco-system function. We will use the conceptual model and facilitated meetings to identify management actions that improve future watershed conditions. We will focus on habitat and connectivity restoration because improvements there often result in improvements to other key freshwater characteristics like streamflow, sediment regime, temperature regulation, water quality, and flood plain access. The research will be conducted in the Appalachian Highlands region of Massachusetts (MA), an area with numerous At-Risk and sensitive species, and with great potential to protect and restore critical habitats.