Strategic Frameworks

The Trustees developed a set of strategic frameworks to assist with restoration planning. The frameworks will guide prioritization, sequencing, and selection of projects in future Trustee Implementation Group (TIG) restoration plans.

They also consider coordination across Restoration Areas, common monitoring standards and approaches, and opportunities for adaptive management. They will help us consider each resource at the ecosystem level, while implementing restoration at the local level.

The frameworks will promote information sharing and coordination across TIGs. They will also be useful for restoration planning and implementation. They provide information for the TIGs to consider for planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration activities.

There are frameworks for oysters, birds, marine mammals, and sea turtles.

Developed by teams of Trustee scientists and resource experts, each framework includes:

  • A brief summary of the information in the programmatic restoration plan related to each resource, including an overview of the injury, restoration goals, restoration approaches and techniques, and monitoring considerations.
  • Biological and ecological information on each resource, including geographic distribution, life history, and key threats.
  • An overview of other recent and ongoing conservation, restoration, management, and monitoring activities related to each resource in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
  • Considerations for the prioritization, sequencing, and selection of restoration projects to benefit the resource, including additional information on restoration approaches and techniques, potential project concepts, and monitoring needs.

Citations and references are included so that the reader can easily investigate each topic in more detail. We may update the strategic frameworks based on new knowledge and updates to relevant species recovery or management plans. The strategic frameworks include project concepts, but don’t contain specific projects selected by the TIG. Decisions on project selection are only made during the restoration planning process.