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Western North Carolina Vitality Index
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A tool developed to provide information necessary in protecting the region’s unique natural resources, promote development and planning that accommodates healthy growth, preserve the heritage and culture that defines communities, and strengthen public health to improve local economies. The Index was developed by University of North Carolina-Asheville National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center from the result of a partnership between the US Forest Service, the NC Mountain Resources Commission, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the Asheville Board of Realtors and Duke Energy. The current iteration of the index contains over 160 different data metrics for each of the western 27 counties in NC. The information is classified into natural, built, human and economic sectors. Data and maps can be downloaded, spatially examined, and compared with state and national averages. A map viewer function allows users to customize their own maps for specific reports, grant applications, and general education and various presentations.
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Cultural Resources
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Socioeconomics
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Socio-economic Tools
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Central Appalachia Prosperity Project
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The Central Appalachia Prosperity Project is part of the Presidential Climate Action Project to develop policy recommendations on climate and energy security, with a focus on what the next President of the United States could accomplish using his or her executive authority. The Central Appalachian Project draws on the input of America's most innovative experts to produce policy and program recommendations that are sufficiently bold to expedite the region's transition to a clean energy economy. An important component of these recommendations has been better coordination of the efforts being made by all levels of government - federal, regional, state and local.
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Cultural Resources
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Socioeconomics
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Socio-economic Projects
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Pricing the Priceless: Ecosystem Services Science at USGS
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Nature's products and services are essential not only to the ecosystems that provide them, but also to the people and societies built on them. Factoring their value into cost-benefit analyses is an important part of smart planning. But that raises a new question—how to assign value to ecosystem services?
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News & Events
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Department of the Interior’s Activities Generate $360 Billion in Annual Economic Activity, Support 2 Million Jobs, New Report Reveals
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Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell capped off a weeklong series of events discussing the President’s vision for full, permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund by releasing a report today showing that the various activities of the Department of the Interior contributed $360 billion to the U.S. economy in 2013, supporting more than 2 million jobs in communities across the country.
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News & Events
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US Forest Service Proposes New Management Practices for Stewardship of Water Resources
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The U.S. Forest Service today announced its intent to strengthen agency management direction for groundwater resources and the use of best management practices to improve and protect water quality on national forests and grasslands. This action is an integral component of watershed stewardship and land management.
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News & Events
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National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation
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Join conservation practitioners and policy makers from across North America to share ideas on the challenges and opportunities in implementing large landscape conservation, as well as the most effective tools, strategies and science available to inform large landscape initiatives.
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News & Events
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Events
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New Report: USFWS Habitat Restoration Programs Create 3,973 New Jobs, Pump $327.7 Million into Local Economies
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that a peer-reviewed analysis finds that the agency's habitat restoration programs are extraordinary engines for the U.S. economy.
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News & Events
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National Wildlife Refuges Support Over 35,000 Jobs, Pump $2.4 Billion into Local Communities
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America’s national wildlife refuges continue to be strong economic engines for local communities across the country, pumping $2.4 billion into the economy and supporting more than 35,000 jobs, according to a new national report released today by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.
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News & Events
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Service Report: Nation’s Rivers Flow toward Better Habitat, Economies and Public Safety
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More than 200 blockages in the nation’s major natural resource “arteries” were removed last year thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program. Working with numerous partners, the program improves fish passage, local economies and public safety by ridding the nation’s rivers of derelict dams that no longer serve a purpose.
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News & Events
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Wetland restorations offer environmental, economic benefits
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Scientists with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service recognize the environmental and economic benefits regional wetlands provide and the importance of preserving wetland resources.
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News & Events
