Department of the Interior Mitigation Strategy

US Department of the Interior Secretarial Order Improving Mitigation Policies and Practices of the Department of the Interior was released in October 2013 and directed an evaluation of Interior’s existing mitigation policies and practices and development of a coordinated Department-wide strategy to effectively offset impacts of large development projects of all types through the use of landscape-level planning.  To advance the landscape-scale, science-based management of America’s public lands and wildlife called for in this Secretarial Order, the US Department of the Interior released a strategy in April 2014 to implement mitigation policies and practices at the Department that can more effectively encourage infrastructure development while protecting natural and cultural resources.  The strategy outlines four priority areas of ongoing and future work, including geospatial assessments, landscape-level strategies, compensatory mitigation programs, and monitoring and evaluation. The approach builds on initiatives that have begun across the country to avoid development conflicts and improve conservation outcomes, like the Western Governors’ Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) and Florida's Critical Land and Waters Identification Project (CLIP). The strategy also identifies near-term actions that the Department will take to put the report’s recommendations into practice. The strategy is the result of extensive outreach to industry, states, tribes, conservation groups, and other stakeholders. The effort reflects the Obama Administration’s commitment to more efficiently permit large infrastructure projects, while achieving improved outcomes for communities and the environment.  This session will be a panel discussion with panelists introducing the four priority areas of the mitigation strategy and then an overview of an existing initiative, the Florida CLIP.