Regional Assessment Activities

MAIA	OOHA	SAA
RPA	Atlantic Forest

Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment

The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) is a multi-agency effort headed by the USEPA to assess the health of all ecosystems in the mid Atlantic region of the United States. The MAIA region is an eight state region encompassing the Chesapeake, Delaware, Ablemarle and Pamlico watersheds. The region includes the entire states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia and parts of New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina. The impetus for the MAIA comes from the CENR's Initiative for Integrated National Environmental Monitoring and as a pilot project for Vice-President Al Gore's charge to develop a national environmental report card. The U.S. Forest Service is responsible for assessing the status of forests in the MAIA region and the Economics Research Work Unit is responsible for the socio-economic component of the MAIA forest assessment. The overall goal for the MAIA socio-economic assessment is to develop systems for understanding and monitoring the relationship between changes in forest ecosystems and human well-being and quality of life in the MAIA region.
contact: Evan Mercer
study description

Ozark-Ouachita Highlands Assessment

The Ozark-Ouachita Highlands Assessment, coordinated by the USDA Forest Service, is designed to provide regional assessment information for the revision of the forest plans in the Highlands. These forests include the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas, the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. The Assessment includes reports on terrestrial, aquatic and atmospheric, and social-economic resources. Expected publication is Fall, 1998. The unit took the lead in social/economic analysis focusing on timber markets and the National Forests as a timber supplier in the region.
contact: Karen Lee Abt
study description

Southern Appalachian Assessment

The Southern Appalachian Assessment is a multiple-resource, ecological assessment of conditions in the Southern Appalachian region stretching from northern Virginia to northeastern Alabama.. It was designed as an information gathering exercise focused on specific questions about ongoing changes in the region. In using data compiled through the assessment, land managers in both the public and private sectors can take account of conditions in the region as a whole. The assessment was coordinated through the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere cooperative and conducted through the cooperation of several federal and state natural resource agencies including the USDA Forest Service, Tennessee Valley Authority, US Environmental Protection Agency, and others. This cooperation significantly expanded the scope and depth of the assessment. The unit took the lead role in assessing the timber economy of the Southern Appalachians.
contact: David Wear
study description

Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment

The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act directs the Forest Service to prepare an Assessment of resource conditions in the US every ten years. The assessment is conducted by a team of specialists from within the agency. The work unit is contributing to the upcoming 1999 assessment through two separate efforts. One is coordination of the analysis of land use and land use changes between major categories in the U.S. The other is a special study to examine long-run demands for and sustainability of forest production in the U.S. South.
contact: Bob Moulton and David Wear
land use change study, sustainability study

Atlantic Coastal Forests

The Atlantic Coastal Forest Assessment was an interdisciplinary project conducted in the northern littoral region of Paraná, Brazil to assess the potential economic development role ecotourism could play in and around the Environmental Protection Area of Guaraqueçaba. The goal of the assessment was to integrate studies of market demand, institutional settings, economic impacts and ecological factors and to report study findings to governmental and non-governmental decision-makers in the state of Paraná. The assessment involved collaborators from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment (IBAMA), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Institute (EMBRAPA), the Paraná Institute of Economic and Social Development (IPARDES), the Paraná Institute of the Environment (IAP), the Paraná Secretary of Sports and Tourism, the Federal University of Paraná, the Pontifical Catholic University, officials of the municipal government of Guaraqueçaba, the Society for Wildlife Protection and Environmental Education (SPVS), USFS International Forestry, Duke University, and North Carolina State University. The unit took the lead in the design, coordination and implementation of the assessment which was completed in 1996.
contact: Tom Holmes
study description

modified: 30-APR-1998
created by: John M. Pye

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