Management of Data to Support Adaptive Management Analysis for ESA Listed Salmonids in the Upper Columbia River Basin

Effective ecosystem management is highly dependent on timely, accurate information.  Information is particularly important in the recovery of threatened and endangered species.  The Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board and partners in the Upper Columbia River Basin have adopted a culture of information stewardship and curation, led by a Data Steward, to provide a hub of reliable information needed to adaptively manage efforts to recover Upper Columbia salmon and steelhead populations listed under the Endangered Species Act.  This focus on information stewardship and curation has been an important part of implementing adaptive management practices.  Key successes in information management that have helped to support adaptive management include:

• Focus on the human infrastructure needed for data management, at the same time that technical infrastructure is being developed;
• Documentation of monitoring protocols as metadata in observation databases;
• Data stewards and an emphasis on stewardship and curation over data management;
• Agencies responsible for their own data management, guided by a data steward;
• Local compilation of data into central databases for reporting to regional systems;
• Close collaboration with regional efforts.