Hedging Against Uncertainty When Granting Permits for Mitigation

Hatchet Ridge, Pattern Energy

The book Structured Decision Making: Case Studies in Natural Resource Management shows how SDM – the systematic use of principles and tools of decision analysis – can be implemented to achieve optimal outcomes that integrate social values and scientific understanding. A chapter co-authored by AWWI, “Hedging against uncertainty when granting permits for mitigation,” discusses how certain modeling approaches were used to demonstrate how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can evaluate a plan to voluntarily abate lead poisoning of golden eagles in central Wyoming to compensate for incidental take of eagles by wind energy facilities. This example illustrates how to characterize and respond to uncertainty in a regulatory decision, with the case study of a compensatory mitigation model for eagles. Learn more.