Coastal Services Center

Human Dimensions

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Social Assessments

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Old Woman Creek Social Assessment

This project included site visits, meetings with representatives of the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve and some of their partner organizations, and remote secondary (population, demographic, housing, economic) data analysis. As a result of these initial discussions, a number of social assessment tools were selected for analysis of the Old Woman Creek site and surrounding communities. A general community characterization of the area compared local, regional, state, and national trends in socioeconomic variables. Focus groups with representatives from local agencies and communities revealed relationships with the Old Woman Creek Reserve and environs, perceptions of landscape change, and opinions about potential threats and management solutions. A mapping exercise identified community members' "home ranges" as they relate to work, leisure, consumption, etc.

Mapping Social Change in U.S. Coastal Counties

This project depicts socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental change using geographic information system (GIS) mapping. The pilot project partners the NOAA Coastal Services Center with North Carolina Sea Grant to examine changes in 20 coastal North Carolina counties over a period of three decades. The resulting product will be a handbook that describes variables and changes identified for each county, and maps depicting these changes over time.

Compiling Social and Cultural Information to Support the Restoration and Management of the Elwha Watershed

This project is a part of an ongoing effort by the Center to increase coastal managers' capacity to use social science tools and information to support decision making. In collaboration with the Center's Landscape Characterization and Restoration (LCR) program, Human Dimensions staff members are working with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the University of Idaho, and other federal, state, and local government agencies to archive social and cultural information to support dam removal, restoration, and the future management of the Elwha River Watershed in Washington State. The Human Dimensions program is supporting the development of a sociocultural data resource and the training of Elwha staff members on methods for collecting and archiving this information. Additional data about management institutions, relevant laws and regulations, and projects linked to the Elwha restoration effort are also being compiled. This information will be integrated with other scientific data in a Web-based environmental characterization of the Elwha Watershed. The project will generate import social and cultural information resources for the managers of the Elwha watershed and it will also demonstrate methods for integrating social and natural science information to support coastal management decision making.

Assessing the Social and Economic Benefits of Restoring the Deschutes Estuary

This project is an additional piece of an ongoing effort by the Center to increase coastal managers' capacity to use social science tools and information to support decision making. The Human Dimensions Program is collaborating with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, as well as other state, tribal, and local government agencies to assess the net social and economic benefits of restoring the Deschutes Estuary in Olympia, Washington. Human Dimensions staff members are assisting with the development of stakeholder forums where citizen groups, the business community, and government representatives will provide input to focus a formal assessment of the net socioeconomic benefits from a restored estuary. Information generated through the stakeholder forums and the formal assessment of the social and economic benefits of a restored Deschutes Estuary will provide critical information to support local decision makers in Olympia . The Human Dimensions program is documenting the methods and approaches used in this effort so that the Deschutes experience can serve as model for other coastal managers attempting to assess the net social and economic benefits of management activities.

For more information contact the Human Dimensions staff at nos.csc.human.dimensions@noaa.gov.