BHLP: Objectives

THE OBJECTIVES OF BROADS HEALTHY LANDS PROJECT

The purpose of Broads’ Healthy Lands Project (BHLP) is to actively involve citizen volunteers from all backgrounds and all ages, and empower them to help make a difference on their public lands by monitoring travel corridors (motorized and non-motorized) and collecting data on the impacts of use and abuse Since its inception in 2003, the Broads’ Healthy Lands Project is engaging an ever expanding cadre of trained citizen monitors around the country who use our standardized monitoring tool and process to collect information and build a national database on public land conditions.

Monitoring results and data collected are archived in our database GINGER . With the information our monitors collect, public land agencies (federal, state or local), can identify areas of critical concern, including areas in need of rehabilitation or enforcement; and develop sensible and responsible management actions and plans. Citizens can use this information to monitor areas of specific interest over time. Academic researchers can use the information as a starting place for impact and mitigation research. Primary and secondary schools can use the information (and the process) for scientific training projects. The list of important applications is limited only by imagination.

THE PROCESS

Great Old Broads for Wilderness provides field training for potential monitors and works with interested organizations and individuals to train monitors and collect accurate data. Trained monitors collect data in the field and submit photos and monitoring data to Broads. The data is then screened and validated by a Database Administrator and transferred to the primary database. Access to the database, GINGER , is available on the web. Detailed reports and analyses are available upon request from Great Old Broads.

The success of Broads’ Healthy Lands Project will be measured by the growth in the number of monitoring projects, number of routes monitored, number of trained citizen monitors, number of database users, in the types of uses made of the data, and ultimately, by the impact the data has on future land management decisions and the overall health of our public lands.