Appendix 4

Adaptive Management

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 1

Appendix 4. Adaptive Management

What is Adaptive Management?

Adaptive management is asystem of management practices based on clearly identified intended outcomes 

and monitoring to determine if management actions are meeting those outcomes; and, if not, to facilitate 

management changes that will best ensure that those outcomes are met or re-evaluated. Adaptive 

management stems from the recognition that knowledge about natural resource systems is sometimes 

uncertain (FSM 1900, Chapter 1940.5). 

How Does Adaptive Management Work?

Adaptive management seeks to provide a structure to evaluate how to best meet projects short-term and 

long-term goals, and helps answer the basic question: Are our management actions having the predicted 

or desired effects?

Adaptive management is not a ‘trial and error’ process, but one that emphasizes learning while doing. 

Adaptive management does not represent an end in itself, but a means to more effective decisions. 

Adaptive management requires a measureable objective, monitoring to determine the effectiveness of the 

management practices used in achieving the objective, evaluation to determine if the objective is being 

reached, and adaptation based on the results.

Adaptive management requires managers to predict, mitigate, implement, monitor, and adapt (Figure A4-

1). Managers repeat these steps over time to improve their understanding of a system and incorporate 

learning into resource management and protection.

Figure A4-1. Adaptive Management process

Adaptive management seeks to:

1. Allow for adaptation to meet a project’s environmental, social, and economic goals;

2. Involve stakeholders; and

3. Incorporate new knowledge into a transparent and agreed to framework to adjust decision-making as 

conditions change.
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 2 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision

Why Apply Adaptive Management to the 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Project?

During the scoping period for the Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide EIS, public comments requested higher 

allocations of service days within the project area (see the FEIS Chapter 1, Significant Issues, Issues 1 

and 2). The Forest Service addressed this issue through the creation of a range of action alternatives, all 

of which would allow for an overall increase in outfitter/guide use from the existing condition (FEIS 

Chapter 2, Alternatives Considered in Detail).

The issue of use levels, combined with the Forest’s past experience managing outfitter/guides and 

knowledge of the inevitable changes that occur during implementation based on economic trends, 

peoples’ preferences of recreation activities, and natural changes in ecological systems highlighted the 

need for the development of an adaptive management strategy. 

The adaptive management strategy would allow the Forest to utilize past management experience in the 

project area, while allowing the flexibility to provide additional economic opportunities (increase use), 

while acknowledging that there are still uncertainties surrounding how resources will respond to use 

levels and how that effects visitor experience. Adaptive management would also allow the Forest to 

adjust outfitter/guide allocations (decrease use) in order to better protect resources and to improve visitor 

experience. 

When developing a framework for authorizing outfitter/guide use on the National Forest, a discussion 

between the terms “allocated use” and “actual use” is necessary to understand the impacts and 

impreciseness of the permitting framework. The unit of measurement for allocated and actual use is 

service days. A service day is defined as an allocation of use constituting a day or any part of a day on 

National Forest System lands for which an outfitter or guide provides services to a client. The total 

number of service days is calculated by multiplying each day, or partial day, a client is on NFS lands by 

the number of clients on the trip.

The Shoreline II FEIS presented the analysis of four alternatives on how to allocate a proportion of total 

(outfitter/guide and non-outfitter/guide) visitor capacity to outfitter/guide uses. The remainder of the total 

visitor capacity would be reserved to represent the non-outfitter/guide recreation use that happens on the 

landscape. A business which obtains an outfitter/guide permit is authorized a portion of the total 

outfitter/guide allocation. In a typical use area, there are multiple businesses operating at the same time 

and collectively they utilize the allocation of outfitter/guide use service days. This is referred to as the 

allocated use, or what businesses are authorized to use in a single year.

Actual use is the amount of an individual outfitter/guide’s allocated use that gets utilized by paying clients 

in a single year. Every year, outfitter/guide companies have some degree of uncertainty on how many 

clients they will be able to attract to utilize all their allocated use. These uncertainties typically result 

from global, national and regional economic conditions, weather, and transportation logistics (i.e., the 

number of available seats to transport clients equals the number of service days authorized). Most 

outfitter/guide companies desire an authorization of use at a level greater than their actual use. This offers 

opportunity for business growth if favorable conditions exist, rather than turn clients away or ask the 

agency for more allocated use mid-season. This generally results in a gap where actual use is less than 

the allocated, or authorized, use.

The Forest Service Manual establishes a policy to keep allocated (authorized) use in check with actual 

use. Every 5 years each special use authorization undergoes a review to rebalance allocated and actual 

use. Ideally these numbers would be in equilibrium, but the desire for flexibility and growth by the 

industry and maximizing public recreation experiences by the agency make it unlikely. This results in an 

imprecise allocated use-actual use permitting framework.
Adaptive Management—Appendix 4 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 3

This element of uncertainty lends itself to an adaptive approach, which allows for a better assessment of 

use allocations and whether those allocations are meeting the project’s purpose and need. The adaptive 

management strategy would give the Forest a tool to adjust decisions regarding the amount and locations 

of guided use for practical reasons.

In order to monitor conditions in the project area, and provide a base for adaptive management decisions, 

key resource indicators for the project area (crowding, and conflict between user groups) were developed.

Goals and Desired Outcome for the Shoreline II

Adaptive Management Strategy

The Shoreline II FEIS provided the foundation for a collaborative adaptive management strategy to 

inform and improve outfitter/guide use management. The purpose of this plan is to meet the following 

three goals:

1. To provide a structured method to monitor and evaluate the impacts of outfitter/guide use within use 

areas (UAs), in order to help mangers implement actions that keep resource impacts within the range 

analyzed in the EIS.

2. To provide data illustrating existing conditions of key resource indicators (Table A4-2) that describe 

the relationship between outfitter/guide use and their impacts, which will inform adaptive 

management actions.

3. Target limited agency capacity (i.e. financial, staff, etc.) to monitor only specific UAs that fall within 

the adaptive management strategy in order to offer quality recreation experiences and sustain 

economic opportunities.

What is Adaptive Management?

Adaptive management emphasizes joint learning and active partnership between managers, outfitter/guide 

companies, and the public. The goal is to reframe a traditional public-private regulatory relationship into 

a public-private partnership realizing common interests in providing the highest quality national forest 

experiences and supporting local economies. Under the adaptive management strategy for the Shoreline 

II FEIS, holders of outfitter/guide special use permits are required to participate through terms of their 

permits such as reporting actual use data (e.g. numbers of clients, dates, and locations) and voluntarily by 

reporting monitoring data collected in the field as they operate their businesses. Opportunities will also 

be made available for the public to collaborate in data collection to support the adaptive management 

strategy.

The adaptive management strategy is intended to be flexible in that as new information is collected and 

evaluated, the Forest and the public will continually re-examine the goals of the program, monitoring 

strategies, and management actions. The Forest will keep the public engaged on new information and any 

changes to monitoring strategies or use management through the Tongass National Forest website, 

monitoring reports, and public meetings, as needed.
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 4 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision

Table A4-1. Phases of Shoreline II Adaptive Management Process

Phase Step or Activity Description

Set-up phase 

of adaptive 

management

Forest Service development of 

adaptive management plan Fall 2015

Stakeholder involvement

Ongoing: The public was introduced to the adaptive 

management plan in winter of 2015/2016 when the DEIS was

published and the comment period initiated. Public meetings 

were held, and written comments accepted during designated 

comment periods.

Monitoring protocols/resource 

indicators

Revised and adjusted based on public input between DEIS

and FEIS.

Iterative phase 

of adaptive 

management

Decision making

Adaptive management may be selected within the Shoreline II 

ROD, with the potential to make future adjustments within 

parameters of the FEIS analysis; metrics were prioritized with 

public input (provided between DEIS and FEIS) and the 

Responsible Official may select final metrics.

Stakeholder involvement

Outfitter/guides, members of the public, and the Forest Service 

collaborate on collecting data to support implementation of 

adaptive management.

Monitoring begins

Once decided to implement adaptive management in a use 

area, a 2-year period of monitoring to gather existing condition 

data is required, before Adaptive Management decisions can 

be instituted. Special use permits will be amended to include 

Adaptive Management requirements for outfitter/guide 

operators in these use areas.

Ongoing monitoring

Interested members of the public and outfitter/guides will be 

provided with specific instructions by the Forest Service on 

how to conduct monitoring activities. Information about which 

Use Areas and season(s) that are eligible for AM will be 

shared at routine outfitter/guide meetings and other means of 

communication. When AM is being considered, the 

outfitter/guides in the effected Use Area will be informed and 

offered the opportunity to help collect monitoring data. 

Training for collecting monitoring data will be provided by the 

Forest Service to ensure consistency and data quality in 

monitoring protocol. 

Assessment, learning and 

feedback

Ongoing, with periodic stakeholder meetings to discuss

monitoring results throughout the life of the project.

How Would Adaptive Management Changes

Occur for this Project?

Adaptive management will be applied to outfitter/guide allocations described for the Selected Alternative 

and designed to meet the Shoreline II project’s purpose and need. More specifically, the adaptive 

management strategy may be implemented when any use area’s actual use data fall within the range of 80

percent to 110 percent of the allocation for any use season (early spring, late spring, summer, fall, winter) 

and there is a request for additional use from an outfitter/guide. Outfitter/guides requesting use that

implements adaptive management may be subject to additional fees under cost recovery regulations.

Actual use data is the information that the outfitter/guides are required to report to the Forest Service at 

the end of every operating season. The actual use data provides specific information about activity 

location, client numbers hosted at each location, and the date the activity occurred. Actual use data is 

entered into an outfitter/guide database managed by the Forest Service. The outfitter/guide database is 
Adaptive Management—Appendix 4 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 5

used to track trends of actual use, determine specific locations that receive intensive use, provide 

information that determine whether new applications for authorized use will be approved, and influence 

where monitoring may be necessary. Concerns regarding inaccurate self-reporting of actual use data are 

alleviated by policy that directs the Forest Service to reduce authorized use to what is actually used and to 

charge a fee for what is authorized in the permit. Under-reporting of actual use results in the reduction of 

an individual guide’s allocation; over-reporting of use requires the guide to pay more for their permit.

The decision space for this adaptive management framework is when any UA for any season has between 

80 percent and 110 percent of its allocation utilized in actual use. To ensure adequate existing condition 

data is collected, decisions based on the adaptive management strategy will not be implemented until at 

least 2 years after the Record of Decision. The priority for collecting existing condition information will 

be in those use areas and use seasons that currently have 75 percent to 80 percent of the allocation utilized 

in actual use and there is a request from an outfitter/guide for additional allocated use.

While the authorized officer may take action in response to monitoring data collected, the Forest Service 

could not, under any scenario, authorize more than 110 percent of the allocated use (the maximum 

number of days in the Selected Alternative) through adaptive management, unless additional National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is completed (see the NEPA Review section).

The following sections describe the components of the adaptive management strategy, and the associated 

monitoring plan that would provide the information used to determine which/or what sort of adaptive 

action(s) could occur.

What is a Monitoring Plan?

A monitoring plan standardizes the process used to determine resource status to identify

appropriate management actions through the use of monitoring data.

A monitoring plan helps structure and guide decision making by linking the definition of project-specific 

resource indicators, monitoring, and triggers/thresholds to assessment results, which in turn determine 

adaptive actions. An effective monitoring plan should be designed to ensure that resource parameters are 

adequately measured, provide a timeframe for actions, and be appropriately focused by outlining relevant 

resource indicators.

What Components Would the Shoreline II

Monitoring Plan Include?

Resource Indicators

In order to evaluate the impacts of this project and to make adjustments to allocated use in a UA and 

season, two resource indicators have been developed. Resource indicators are measurable attributes that 

identify which factors would initially guide data collection and provide a link between the projects overall 

goals and the desired resource outcomes. For this project, the resource indicators are a reflection of the 

public issues that drove the various action alternatives: crowding and user conflict. These adaptive 

management resource indicators (see Table A4-2) will always be measured whenever monitoring data is 

collected to inform decisions to increase or decrease allocations under the adaptive management strategy. 

Monitoringof Resource Indicators

Monitoring is defined as anything necessary and appropriate to determine the accuracy of impact 

predictions, and the effectiveness of mitigation measures. Monitoring provides the ability to adequately 
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 6 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision

evaluate the effects of the selected alternative and to apply the adaptive management strategy that allows

for mid-course corrections to the UA allocation, without requiring new or supplemental NEPA review. In 

addition, data collected from monitoring may show that other metrics need to be developed, that other 

resources should be evaluated, or that adjustments to the way resources are monitored should be made.

Monitoring Objectives 

1. Ensure the decision is implemented as stated in the Record of Decision.

2. Document baseline conditions of resource indicators to determine if AM actions are

appropriate.

3. Assess if request for increased allocations in Use Area and season can be accommodated

without compromising desired conditions for resources and conditions.

4. Establish data trends to determine if AM actions are staying within the monitoring indicator 

threshold and that desired conditions are sustained.

Monitoring of the resource indicators for this project will be conducted by the Forest staff, in 

collaboration with outfitter/guides, and public and would occur as outlined below:

Crowding:

When – It is expected that there will be at least one Forest Service field monitoring trip, during the season 

of concern to monitor for crowding. Monitor annually for the first 2 years to establish an existing 

condition estimate of the number of encounters per day. Then monitor every other year to establish trends 

until data and impact relationship remains stable. When the data and impact relationship demonstrates a 

stable trend, then monitoring can conclude.

What - Monitor encounters in the UA and season of concern to establish an existing condition estimate of 

number of encounters per day. An encounter occurs when a person or group located on National Forest 

System (NFS) lands becomes aware of the presence of another person or group located on or adjacent to 

NFS lands.

How – Monitoring data will be collected by Forest Service personnel, outfitter/guides and the public 

using Tongass National Forest Wilderness Character Monitoring protocol or an adaptation better suited to 

collaborator constraints. Annual monitoring in a UA and season will have a minimum of 7 days of 

encounter monitoring data; ideally samples taken from each day of the week to reduce biases that might 

arise due to schedules that concentrate traffic on certain days.

Conflict:

When - Annually 

What- Monitor conflicts in the use area and season of concern through ad-hoc field monitoring and 

reports from user groups. Reports will be standardized across all four Districts and will include date, 

time, location, parties involved, activity at the time of conflict, and whether there was an effort made by 

outfitter/guides to resolve conflict. 

How - Monitoring data will primarily be collected through reports from an individual or group who 

experiences conflict. Field monitoring will be ad-hoc, meaning a field trip to specifically monitor for 

conflicts in the field will not be required. Forest Service employees in the field for other purposes will adhoc monitor for conflicts. Data will be entered into the outfitter/guide database by the district receiving 

the report.
Adaptive Management—Appendix 4 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 7

Triggers

Triggers or thresholds define a resource condition that would initiate adaptive action(s) based on the 

outcome of monitoring information (i.e. if this trigger is met, then that (adaptive action occurs).

The triggers in the Shoreline II project were established by the interdisciplinary team (IDT) based on 

Forest Plan standards and guidelines or their individual resource analyses. Triggers are when monitoring 

data exceeds the prescribed threshold, an adaptive action could be implemented. The adaptive action is 

either to increase, hold constant, or decrease the allocation of outfitter/guide use in a UA and season.

The trigger for monitoring the key indicator for crowding is described as “encounters with or amongst 

outfitter/guides and public groups exceed the Forest Plan ROS standards and guidelines at one or more 

use locations within the use area more than 20 percent of the season of concern and relationship remains 

stable for three consecutive data points (i.e. years that data is collected).” Encounters are defined as when 

a person or group located on NFS lands becomes aware of the presence of another person or group 

located on or adjacent to NFS lands. The use areas are illustrated in the FEIS, Chapter 1, Figure 1-1 and 

the use seasons are described in Chapter 2, Tables 2-1 through 2-4. The trigger of “20 percent or more of 

the use season” is derived from past practice in the 2004 Shoreline project and in this adaptive 

management strategy, which gets implemented when 80 percent of the allocated use is utilized by 

outfitter/guides and 20 percent remains available. In general, the interdisciplinary team agreed that it was 

acceptable to meet the trigger at least 80 percent of the time before resources become degraded to the 

point where adaptive management action is necessary.

The trigger for monitoring the key indicator for conflict is described as “conflicts between user groups 

result in a diminished recreation experience and are recorded in any 2 of 5 year period in any single use 

area and season.” Conflicts are defined as an instance where two or more individuals or groups who are 

on, or intend to utilize, NFS lands interact and fail to coordinate shared use of the area to the satisfaction 

of both groups. User groups may include outfitter/guides, other commercial users, subsistence users, 

researchers, other agencies, and public groups. Recordable conflicts can occur between two or more 

groups, and must be reported to the Forest Service in a reasonable timeframe.

The use areas are illustrated in the FEIS, Chapter 1, Figure 1-1 and the use seasons are described in 

Chapter 2, Tables 2-1 through 2-4. 

Adaptive Actions

Adaptive actions are actions that will be taken when certain conditions (triggers/thresholds) are or are not 

met. For this project, the adaptive actions primarily result in increasing or decreasing the allocation in the 

Selected Alternative when actual use reaches between 80 percent and 110 percent of the allocation. 

Management actions may also involve other practices employed by outfitter/guides such as 

communication and coordination with each other or avoidance of certain areas to mitigate certain site 

specific impacts. The acceptable range of management actions, except the adjustment of allocations 

where use has reached between 80 percent and 110 percent, can change through time, as stakeholder 

perspectives and resource conditions evolve, legal requirements change, and new information becomes 

available.

A list of typical management action are provided in this document. Future actions would be tailored to 

respond to the specific/identified impact to the affected resource. An appropriate response would be 

evaluated within the Forest Service’s capacity to utilize all available information, best science and 

coordination with appropriate agency specialists and outfitter guides.

The resource indicators displayed below in Table A4-2 have been selected to represent key resource 

concerns, and are tied to the issues brought forward by the public during scoping. These issues are 

tied directly to each alternative developed for analysis, including the Selected Alternative. The indicators 
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 8 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision

selected for monitoring are capable of showing trends over time and will respond to adaptive actions in 

line with the overall desired condition of the project area.

Table A4-2. Resource indicators and corresponding adaptive actions

Resource: 

Indicator Monitoring Threshold/Trigger Adaptive Action

Recreation & 

Wilderness: 

Crowding

It is expected that 

there will be at least 

one Forest Service 

field monitoring trip, 

during the season of 

concern to monitor 

for crowding. Monitor 

annually for the first 

2 years to establish 

an existing condition 

estimate of the 

number of 

encounters per day. 

Then monitor every 

other year to 

establish trends until 

data and impact 

relationship remains 

stable. When the 

data and impact 

relationship 

demonstrates a 

stable trend, then 

monitoring can 

conclude.

Encounters with or 

amongst 

outfitter/guides and 

public groups 

exceed the Forest 

Plan ROS standards 

and guidelines at 

one or more use 

locations more than 

20% of the season 

of concern and 

relationship remains 

stable for three 

consecutive data 

points (i.e. years that 

data is collected).

Require guides to monitor and report the number 

of encounters per day in their actual use report.

If monitoring data is below threshold, authorize up 

to 95 percent of the use area allocation. 

Continue monitoring annually for 2 years. If data 

remains below the threshold, authorize up to the 

maximum 110 percent of the use area allocation.

If monitoring data exceeds the threshold, do not 

authorize additional use and implement the 

following actions in priority order to the point 

where the threshold/trigger is achieved:

Encourage outfitter/guide communication to 

coordinate activities to certain days/times to 

reduce encounters.

Outfitter/guides voluntarily reduce the number of 

authorized service days.

Agency formally revokes authorized service days 

proportionally from all outfitter/guides using the 

use area.

Recreation: 

Conflict 

between user 

groups

Monitor conflicts in 

the use area and 

season of concern 

through ad-hoc field 

monitoring and 

reports from user 

groups. Reports will 

be standardized 

across all four 

Districts and will 

include date, time, 

location, parties 

involved, activity at 

the time of conflict, 

and whether there 

was an effort made 

by outfitter/guides to 

resolve conflict. 

Conflicts between 

user groups result in 

a diminished 

recreation 

experience and are 

recorded in any 2 of 

5 year period in any 

single use area and 

season.

Require outfitter/guides to report the number of 

conflicts that result in a diminished recreation 

experience for their clients as they occur.

If monitoring data is below threshold, authorize up 

to 95 percent of the use area allocation. 

Continue monitoring annually for 2 years. If data 

remains below the threshold, authorize up to 110

percent of the use area allocation.

If monitoring data exceeds the threshold, do not 

authorize additional use and implement the 

following actions in priority order to the point 

where the threshold/trigger is achieved:

Encourage outfitter/guide communication to 

coordinate activities to certain days/times to 

eliminate conflict.

Outfitter/guides voluntarily reduce the authorized 

number of service days.

Agency formally revokes service days 

proportionally from all outfitter/guides utilizing the 

use area.
Adaptive Management—Appendix 4 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 9

Data Collection and Documentation Prior to 

Implementation

Data collection will be conducted by Forest Service staff, interested members of the public and 

outfitter/guides. When adaptive management is being considered, the outfitter/guides in the affected Use 

Area, and interested members of the public will be informed and offered the opportunity to help collect 

monitoring data. Training for collecting monitoring data will be provided by the Forest Service to ensure 

consistency and data quality in monitoring protocol.

Resource indicator monitoring data will be input by Forest Service employees and housed in the Outfitter 

and Guide database, and the results will be available to the public upon request by from the Forest 

Service, shared at routine outfitter/guide meetings and through other means of communication as needed.

After actual use data has been entered into the database for the season, the Outfitter and Guide database 

will be queried to see which UAs have reached the 80 percent threshold. Those UAs that have reached 

the 80 percent threshold and received a request for additional use will be eligible for implementation of 

the adaptive management strategy. 

Data will be provided to, and reviewed by an interdisciplinary team located on the District where the UA 

being proposed for adaptive management is located (Review Process and Additional Implementation 

Monitoring). 

Currently the Outfitter and Guide database holds the actual use data for each UA and season, but is not 

capable of housing the crowding and conflict indicator data. The database is anticipated to be capable of 

holding the crowding and conflict data by the end of fiscal year 2018. Until the database is capable, the 

District in which adaptive management is being implemented will be responsible for maintaining the 

adaptive management monitoring data.

Scope of Work during Implementation

Project-level monitoring is a commitment of resources to manage the National Forest. The estimated 

scope of work to implement adaptive management in the first 2 to 5 years is shown below. Adaptive 

management would be employed when 80 percent of the allocated use is utilized by actual use. 

Optimally, monitoring would start at 75 percent, so that there is a level of certainty regarding future 

management between agency and outfitter/guide businesses. This scope of work is based on the number 

of use areas and season that will be at 75 percent or higher.

The annual cost of implementing adaptive management for the Selected Alternative would be about

$12,970. This estimated cost, as described in the FEIS, could be further off-set through cost recovery 

authorities by charging outfitter/guides who request additional use a fee and/or further cooperation for 

voluntary data collection with permitted outfitter/guides. The adaptive management strategy is more 

feasible than the 2004 Shoreline FEIS/ROD monitoring requirements because it focuses the monitoring 

requirements in discrete use areas as opposed to the whole project area, therefore concentrating financial 

resources in use areas where existing use is higher and there is a demand for new use.

The estimated costs in the following tables are 2016 numbers and do not account for any future inflation.
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 10 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision

Table A4-3. Selected Alternative (Alternative 2) use areas where adaptive management strategy would be

employed in first 2 to 5 years of implementation

District Use Area Season Actual Use

2010-2014

Proposed

Allocation

Proportion

(Percent)

JRD 01-05E Fords Terror Summer 293 125 234

ANM 04-10A Greens Creek Summer 190 250 76

Crowding: 

• JRD: 1 Day x $5,885/Day = $5,885

• ANM: 1 Day x $5,885/Day = $5,885

• Total = $11,770

Conflict:

• JRD: 1 Day x $600/Day = $600

• ANM: 1 Day x $600/Day = $600

• Total = $1,200

TOTAL Selected Alternative = $12,970

Resources to Implement Monitoring that Supports an 

Adaptive Management Decision

Resource Indicator: Crowding

Activity: It is expected that there will be at least one field monitoring trip necessary per year to complete 

Forest Service monitoring for crowding. Forest Service data collection will support and validate data 

provided by guide companies. Special use permit administrator accounts for collecting and entering data 

provided by a guide.

Resource Cost/Unit Total Units Total Cost

Recreation/ Wilderness Specialist (GS-09) $300/day 2 $600

Recreation/ Wilderness Technician (GS-07) $250/day 5 $1,000

Recreation/Wilderness Technician (GS-05) $225/day 5 $1,125

Special Use Permit Administrator (GS-09) $300/day 1 $300

Transportation $2,500 1 $2,500

Field Subsistence $60/day 6 $360

Total $5,885

Resource Indicator: Conflict between User Groups

Activity: Monitoring data will primarily be collected through reports from guides or public who 

experience conflict. Field monitoring will be ad-hoc, meaning a field trip to specifically monitor for 

conflicts in the field will not be conducted. Forest Service employees in the field for other purposes will 

ad-hoc monitor for conflicts.

Resource Cost/Unit Total Units Total Cost

Special Use Permit Administrator $300/day 2 $600

Total $600
Adaptive Management—Appendix 4 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 11

Review Process and Additional Resource

Monitoring

The purpose of the adaptive management environmental review process is to determine how proposed 

adaptive management actions (increase, or decrease of allocated use in individual UAs) may affect 

resources. If resource specialists find the effects of implementing the adaptive management action is 

within the effects described in the Shoreline II EIS, and the District Ranger and Responsible Official 

concur with the finding of the IDT, a formal supplemental environmental review would not be needed 

prior to approval of the adaptive management action.

Project-level monitoring described in Appendix 3 (implementation monitoring) will be focused in use 

areas that are being considered for adaptive management (those within the 80 percent actual use criteria). 

While this monitoring will not initiate adaptive management actions of increasing or decreasing UA 

allocations, it would be used to inform the environmental review process and potentially institute further 

permit stipulations that mitigate site specific resource issues. 

Additional site-specific mitigation measures may be identified during the environmental review process. 

If any resource concern cannot be successfully mitigated or does not conform to the Forest Plan Standards 

and Guidelines, the activity would not be authorized under the Shoreline II Outfitter and Guide EIS, and a 

separate NEPA analysis would be required. The requirement to prepare a supplemental analysis would 

continue to apply when the adapting responses, and their effects, exceed the scope of the NEPA analysis.

Management considerations and mitigations are noted on the use area, and large group area cards located 

in the Final ROD Appendices 1 and 2 respectively, and project-specific Stipulations and BMPs related to 

guided use are located in Appendix 3.

The implementation sheet below outlines a structured format for documenting and approving adaptive 

management actions. The District Ranger, and the Responsible Official, will determine if additional 

environmental review is necessary. 
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 12 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision

NEPA and Environmental Review Worksheet

Shoreline II Use Area:

Season of Concern:

Located in a Wilderness Area: Y/N

Current Allocation:

Proposed Allocation:

NEPA Review

Please supply resource-specific answers to the following questions:

• Would the effects of implementing this action (direct/indirect/cumulative) match those described in

NEPA analysis for each resource?

• Have conditions changed (i.e., new listed species in project area; new invasive species in project

area; change in regulation)? If so, describe.

• Are there specific mitigation measures needed?

• Is there a need to review new information (FSH 1909.15 Section 18)?

Environmental Review

Heritage:

Wildlife/Subsistence:

Recreation:

Hydrology/Fisheries:

Botany:

Invasive Plants:

Soils and Wetlands:

Wilderness:

I have reviewed the activities proposed for the Shoreline II Guide Use Area . 

Based on my review, the decision to is consistent with the 

Shoreline II Outfitter and Guide Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision.

X

 District Ranger

X

 Forest Supervisor
Adaptive Management—Appendix 4 

Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision Appendix 4 - 13

Additional Monitoring

Types of project-level monitoring that would occur in use areas where adaptive management is being 

considered are outlined below, and are also discussed in Chapter 3 of the FEIS. 

Heritage

Forest Service archaeologists annually will monitor a sample of ten permitted use areas throughout the 

project area, including use areas considered for adaptive management, using standard archaeological 

monitoring and inventory procedures. These areas will be examined based on: 1) if any known historic 

properties are in the immediate vicinity, 2) the location’s level of archaeological sensitivity, and 3) type of 

activities being permitted. Camping is considered the activity with the most potential to impact historic 

properties and camping sites will be given a high priority for monitoring. Active touring is the second 

activity of concern for impact to historic properties. Outfitted/guided use area monitoring will include 

pedestrian transects, with soil probes and test units to determine if buried cultural remains are being 

impacted. 

Wildlife 

Monitoring for effects that might occur if allocation number increase would relate to behavior response 

from wildlife (i.e. displacement, avoidance and/or habituated). Forest Service biologists would work with 

the permit officer to develop surveys for outfitter guides within targeted use areas. Surveys will look to 

answer questions about raptor nest abandonment, shorebird displacement, bear habituation and other 

animal responses. 

Botany

Infestations of highly invasive plants and sites of potential new infestations would be monitored for 

frequent use by outfitter/guides at least once during the summer growing season for evidence of direct or 

indirect adverse impacts, including new infestations or spread of existing infestations. Sensitive and rare 

plants occurrences will also be monitored once during the summer growing season to for evidence of 

impacts such as trampled or crushed individuals, soil erosion, compaction, or loss of vegetation cover. 

Soils/Wetlands

An ecologist or soil scientist will work with permit administrators to evaluate impacts to soils and 

wetlands. Monitoring will occur in “unhardened” large group areas with more than 30 percent sensitive 

soils or non-forested wetlands. This includes Fanshaw, Fowler Creek, Fox Creek, Katzehin Falls, Mallard 

Cove, Pinta Cove, Point Coke, Sand Bay, Saook Bay, Sunny Cove, West Gilbert Bay, and Sashin Lake 

Trail. 

Aquatics

Monitoring site visits would be designed to ascertain similar resource impairments as identified for 

Soils/Wetlands and Botany (i.e. bank slumping and vegetation loss due to trampling).
Appendix 4—Adaptive Management 

Appendix 4 - 14 Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide Record of Decision
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