Decision Support Tools

Decision Support Tools can come in a variety of forms. They can be datasets, desktop tools, web-based maps or analysis tools, data systems or guidance documents; anything that helps assist or support the decision-making process. In this case, the decision support tools presented are tools, data and systems to help U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) staff, industry, partners and others to more easily navigate and apply the best available resources to aid in their decision-making processes. For guidance best practices, and training resources for avoiding and minimizing impacts to birds, please refer to the Guidance Documents, Conservation Measures and Training webpages.

There are a number of Decision Support Tools that have been developed or in the process of being developed to help facilitate the project assessment and impact management processes for migratory birds. A few of these include the  Avian Knowledge Network (AKN), specifically the AKN histogram tools; the Service's Information Planning for Conservation (IPaC) system; and the Service's Injury and Mortality Reporting (IMR) system. For information on additional resources available for assessment and planning purposes, see the  Tools for Landscape Level Assessment and Planning Guide. There are also various other bird data and information resources that can help inform project planning and bird conservation decisions.

New Development: Through the Council for the Conservation of Migratory Birds the FWS is facilitating an effort to increase the accessibility of best available bird data and decision support tools through the development of a National Node of the AKN. The National Node will improve data discovery and data sharing capabilities across all AKN nodes and other separate data bases.  The National Node will also expand the AKN histogram tool to a nationwide scale and incorporate these histograms into the Service's IPaC system. For more information about this effort, visit the National Node project website.