Do you agree with the groupings for the indicators? Do you think there are indicators missing that need to be added?

Is this suppose to be "data" rather than "date"? Forgive me if you have already discussed this one.

Carolyn - Thanks! I've fixed this typo.

I'm glad to see that the public is included in the discussion/matrix. Many of these indicators and probable policy creation effects the "public." It is important to get early by-in from everyone within the community.

-Carol

First: this looks like a promising start -- well done. I like the fact that most of the suggested indicators are measurable and meaningful, and that there are a number of them that could appeal to non-experts (including the "interested public" and the media).

Please excuse this question if it's too basic: I must confess that I'm not a biologist or ecologist, but what would the metric be for "integrity" in the following indicators?

Integrity of coastal ecosystem for threatened/endangered coastal species
Integrity of coastal ecosystem for migratory species
Integrity of coastal ecosystem for invasive species

Again, I apologize is this is obvious to everybody else. Pretend I'm just warming you up for CNN reporters . . . .

Thanks,

-Wes

Wes - It's a question I have also. This original indicator came from some background documents of the Council's. I would imagine that a metric related to area covered or connected would be a better definition. I'll leave it up to the group, though. Perhaps someone else has a better description.
Best,
Christine

The indicators and the groupings are right on target. Many of the questions that we ask as planners stem from these indicators ie. What will the town/region look like in 5,10,50 years if we continue with these policies? How do we affect the natural resources of the area? How do our economic development/growth policies effect the environment?

I think it would be helpfull to add three other indicies.

1.Average size of a piece of riparian land. In general ecosytem integrity can in part be linked to whether there are contiguos undeveloped areas. As the Land water interface is so central to both the aquatic ecosystem health and human use patterns looking at the average size of shoreland parcels can show some pretty interesting trends both on a Local and regional level.

2.Annual # of real estate transactions. This is a good measure of where development is headedand at what pace.

3. # Acres in conservation easements and/or publicly owned conservation land. This is a huge area on which there is relatively little public knowledge of or disscussion about. Foe example Knowing what percentage of riparian land in the gulf of Maine is currently protected would seem pretty important if we are serious about habitat conservation. Equally the area under conservation easements has big impacts or where and what human activities can occur.

If we are tracking development where is the indicator for overboard discharges or volume of discherge from public wastewater treatment plants?

Percent change in land cover to more intensive uses: NOAA Coastal Services Center runs a program called Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP). This data has been collected for the states of ME, NH, MA, VT, RI, CT, NY and part of PA. Data collected was from LANDSAT at a 30-meter resolution. Land cover data is available for 1996 and 2001, as well as 1996-2001 change data. Products inventory coastal intertidal areas, wetlands, and adjacent uplands with the goal of monitoring changes in these habitats on a 1-5 year cycle.

www.csc.noaa.gov/landcover

How do we turn "integrity" indicators into non-bias scientific?