Florida Antural Areas Inventory (FNAI) has conducted a statewide analysis of natural resource conservation priorities for the Florida Forever program. The Inventory created or compiled GIS data layers for rare species habitat, natural communities, ecological greenways, large landscapes, significant surface waters, natural floodplain, functional wetlands, aquifer recharge, coastal resources, cultural resources, recreation, and sustainable forestry.
F-TRAC is an analysis conducted by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) for the Florida Forever environmental land acquisition program. It is based on a computer modeling approach to conservation reserve design known as Iterative Site Selection (ISS). The primary purpose for developing F-TRAC was to provide a concise analysis to evaluate current and potential land acquisition projects for the Florida Forever program. F-TRAC provides a means for evaluating Florida Forever projects relative to a model portfolio that achieves efficient natural resource protection on the amount of land likely to be acquired during the ten year duration of the Florida Forever program. The Inventory provides a comprehensive report that scores all Florida Forever projects on their values for individual resources as well as their contribution to the F-TRAC 2010 Portfolio.
F-TRAC considers five types of natural resource categories (species, communities, watersheds, wetlands, and forestry) and identifies a portfolio of sites that efficiently protects those resources. Efficiency is the key to the model; it approaches an optimal solution of the greatest resource protection in a given amount of land. Our analysis resulted in two scenarios: the 2010 Statewide Scenario, which identifies a portfolio of sites throughout the state; and the 2010 on Projects Scenario, which identifies a portfolio of sites only within existing and proposed Florida Forever Projects. Both Scenarios approximate the amount of land likely to be acquired through the ten-year duration of the Florida Forever program.
Tool is useful for viewing projects in a statewide context, and can help inform decisions on adding new projects or removing existing projects. As with all models, F-TRAC should be interpreted with appropriate discretion. The results should not be considered a final evaluation of projects for acquisition, but a tool to inform decision-making. No model can fully capture all nuances of a problem. Nevertheless, models such as F-TRAC are powerful because they synthesize a large amount of information in an objective manner, allowing decision-makers to focus on the most critical points of evaluation.
This F-TRAC scenario is a statewide analysis to determine the best places to acquire resources. Twenty-six percent of those places occur on projects; the remaining 74% occur elsewhere in the state. This score is useful for viewing projects in a statewide context and might best be used to help determine if new proposals should be added to the list or existing projects should be removed.
This F-TRAC scenario is a statewide analysis to determine the best places to acquire resources. Twenty-six percent of those places occur on projects; the remaining 74% occur elsewhere in the state. This score is useful for viewing projects in a statewide context and might best be used to help determine if new proposals should be added to the list or existing projects should be removed.
This analysis resulted in a Conservation Needs Assessment, which established baseline protection status for each natural resource, and provides a tool for tracking progress in resource acquisition.
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