Institute for Natural Resources

The Washington State Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) is conducting a review of the state’s efforts to conserve habitat and expand outdoor recreation. This work includes a review of existing or potential objective outcome measures that can be used to evaluate the success of 13 different land acquisition and regulatory programs intended to protect and conserve habitat and expand outdoor recreation.
As part of this larger JLARC review, the Institute for Natural Resources at Oregon State University worked with a national team to conduct a science-based literature review to answer JLARC’s three primary questions:

• Question 1: What metrics have been shown to effectively measure the performance of land acquisition and regulatory actions, in terms of the goals identified for the habitat and recreation land acquisition and regulatory program?
•  Question 2: What is needed to ensure that outcome measurements are accurate, reliable, and linked to programs and projects?
• Question 3: How have similar programs successfully implemented outcome measurement?

The project was conducted through a combination of systematic review techniques, traditional literature review practices, and input from subject matter experts and key staff at similar programs around the U.S. We focused our efforts specifically on programs that would help provide information about ‘best practices’ for outcome measures that were not found in peer-reviewed or agency publications. By best practices we were looking for outcome measures (i.e., indicators and metrics) and programs that were effective, innovative, or promising.

• Final Report (PDF; September 2017) 
• Related documents by topic -
  • Air Quality
  • Coasts and Shorelines
  • Estuaries
  • Fish and Salmon
  • Forestry
  • Freshwater Wetlands
  • Growth Management
  • Recreation
  • Scenic Beauty
  • Species and Habitat Acquisition
  • Tidal Wetlands
  • Water Quality and Quantity