Limnological Assistance for Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Quarterly Report, Period Ending December 31, 2011

Project 1 Technical assistance with the implementation of the Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (IMAP) for Quagga Mussels is ongoing; remaining analyses are underway with report delivery rescheduled for 05/2012. Data have been delivered for Veliger abundance and settlement at different depths of Lake Mead with report delivery re-scheduled for 05/2012. Growth of adult quagga mussels within Las Vegas Wash/Las Vegas Bay The Interagency Quagga Mussel Meeting was held on 11/17/2011; the next meeting is scheduled for 02/16/2011. Project 2 Appendix 7, an addition to the Long-term Limnological and Aquatic Resource Monitoring and Research Plan for Lakes Mead and Mohave, has been revised with additional content added. All available deliverables from NPS project partners have been collected for a close-out report to SNPLMA on all Water 2025 Conservation Initiative-funded projects (Rounds 4, 5, and 7); the report narrative was finalized and project files were linked to an organizer spreadsheet within an external hard drive and delivered. The updated interagency quagga mussel needs statement was distributed to members of the Interagency Quagga Mussel Meeting group and finalized. The project group contributed to the NPS-funded U.S. Geological Survey Circular Report on the science of Lakes Mead and Mohave. The Interagency Monitoring and Research Coordination Meetings was also held on 11/17/11; the next meeting is scheduled for 01/18/2012. A planning meeting for a new iteration of this meeting group is scheduled for 01/24/2012

Interagency Management Action Plan (I-MAP) for Quagga Mussels

Following the discovery of quagga mussels in Lake Mead, a variety of agencies, including National Park Service (NPS) Lake Mead National Recreational Area (LMNRA), Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS), Clean Water Coalition (CWC), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have set up monitoring programs to evaluate and gain information to help minimize the impacts or potential impacts of quagga mussels to their facilities and lake ecology. Current monitoring activities and anticipated environmental impacts are depicted in Figures 1 and 2. While the agencies have worked closely and shared monitoring data and findings from the beginning of the infestation, there has been no documented comprehensive monitoring program to describe and record the various quagga mussel-related monitoring needs relative to interagency objectives for Lakes Mead and Mohave. Ad hoc interagency quagga mussel meetings attended by representatives of the above-listed agencies and others served as a springboard for gathering the information with which to establish this Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-MAP), which outlines agency objectives related to quagga mussel monitoring and provides approaches to realize these objectives. At the time of this document’s publication, the “I-MAP quagga mussel coordination team” included representatives from the following agencies: LMNRA, USBR, SNWA, NDOW, CWC, AZGFD, USFWS, MWD, UNLV, DRI, and UNR (Figure 3). I-MAP team members and their respective agencies provide technical, logistical, and financial support in monitoring quagga mussels and their environmental impacts to Lake Mead. The purpose of the I-MAP team is to coordinate monitoring relevant to the I-MAP

Limnological Assistance for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Meeting the Challenge of the Water 2025 Initiative: Quarterly Report, Period Ending September 30, 2008

Project 1: Technical input has been provided at eight advisory team meetings attended this quarter. Broad, overarching “Issues of Concern” developed for the Boulder Basin Adaptive Management Plan are currently under review by Drs. David Wong and Shawn Gerstenberger. A Selenium Management Plan is also under review. Project 2: Data collected by the Southern Nevada Water Authority has been synthesized to summarize bacteria counts in high-use areas of Lakes Mead and Mohave. This information will be documented and interpreted for management use in a formal report in the upcoming quarter. Project 3: A draft document titled “Suggested Standard Methods for Interagency Long-Term Quagga Mussel Monitoring in Lake Mead” has been delivered and presented to the interagency team for review and edits. This document will serve as a portion of a larger, ecological monitoring plan relevant to quagga mussel invasion. Project 4: Data mining for Lake Mead benthos has been initiated and is underway. Project 5: Symposium planning is well underway and on schedule for delivery in January 2009. Sponsorship of $7,500 has been committed by Southern Nevada Water Authority. Project 6 Interagency “Water 2025” Team meetings continue to be coordinated and built for eventual input into the ecological monitoring plan for Lakes Mead and Mohave

Interagency monitoring action plan (I-MAP) for quagga mussels in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, USA

Following the discovery of quagga mussels in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, USA, a variety of federal, state and regional agencies set up monitoring programs to evaluate and gain information to help minimize the impacts, or potential impacts, of quagga mussels to their facilities and lake ecology. While the agencies have worked closely and shared monitoring data and findings from the beginning of the infestation, there has been no documented comprehensive monitoring program to describe and record the various quagga mussel-related monitoring needs. Ad hoc interagency quagga mussel meeting representatives established an Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-MAP), which outlines agency objectives related to quagga mussel monitoring and provides approaches to realize these objectives. I-MAP team members and their respective agencies provide technical, logistical, and financial support in monitoring quagga mussels and their environmental impacts to Lake Mead. The goal of this effort is to develop a long-term, cost-effective, and consistent monitoring plan for quagga mussels in Lake Mead to inform various agencies and to gain efficiencies from shared operations and information. The plan attempts to build upon current monitoring activities and capabilities, identifies the next steps that can occur within existing capabilities and, finally, outlines gaps and areas of future need

Joined-Up Government in the Prevention of Terrorist-Financing Offenses by Nonprofit Organizations: An Evidence-Based Approach

Indonesian interagency coordination to prevent terrorist-financing offenses by nonprofit organizations has several drawbacks. This article applies textual analysis and an evidence-based approach to draw effective coordination mechanisms from several countries’ experiences and to design a model of interagency coordination. The model illustrates mechanisms that can be the drivers of changes and minimize ineffective interagency coordination, which may lead to an increase in nonprofit vulnerabilities to terrorist-financing offenses. Evidence drawn from several countries that are contextually relevant to Indonesia, namely, Australia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, illustrates that effective interagency coordination potentially reduces the risks of terrorist financing and has synchronized policies, objectives, functions, and responsibilities among authorities. Therefore, authorities can prioritize interventions and resources to address the most vulnerable factors. This article suggests improvements in four aspects: collaborative endeavors toward single integrated databases; comprehensive risk assessment of nonprofits; priority settings on socialization, education, monitoring, and supervision; and network model to improve voluntary information sharing

Spatial and seasonal patterns and long term variability of the composition of the haze in the United States: an analysis of data from the IMPROVE network

July 1996.Principal investigators: William C. Malm, Marc L. Pitchford.Includes bibliographical references.This report describes data for the three year period, March 1992 through February 1995, of the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) measurement program. IMPROVE is a cooperative visibility monitoring effort between the United States Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) federal land management agencies, and state air agencies

Spatial and temporal patterns and the chemical composition of the haze in the United States: an analysis of data from the IMPROVE network, 1988-1991

February 1993.Principal investigators: William C. Malm, Marc L. Pitchford.Includes bibliographical references.This report describes data obtained from the first three years, March 1988 through February 1991, of the IMPROVE measurement program Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments). IMPROVE is a cooperative visibility monitoring effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, federal land management agencies, and state air agencies

Improving Early Childhood Education: Framing the Options and Imperatives for State Action Policy

Across the nation, early childhood education and care has suffered from poorly organized service delivery systems, inadequate funding, and insufficient attention by the policymakers. The result is a complicated system plagued by competing interests that is in need of reform and alignment. The field's capacity to meet the needs of children and families has been diminished by unresolved governance questions, and improving governance is an important first step toward eliciting stronger program outcomes such as heightened quality and broader access for children. Given parents' growing demand for expanded services and schools' heightened expectations for Kindergarten preparedness, improvement of early childhood service delivery is an imperative that states can no longer choose to ignore.Nationally, the issue of improving access and quality of early childhood education services is gaining momentum. A growing body of research demonstrates the importance of early care and learning experiences for children's cognitive and social development and links quality preschool experiences to higher academic achievement in later years. Further, economists note the importance of early education and care options for improving a region's overall quality of life and prospects for economic development. State leaders are increasingly acknowledging the role of policy in improving the delivery and quality of early education services and are making change in this area a priority. Massachusetts policy makers have begun to demonstrate a commitment to confronting and helping resolve the complex challenges that face the early childhood education system in the state. This brief has been designed as background information for use in the policy dialogue on early childhood education. This brief is the product of a secondary analysis of existing data and research on governance in early childhood services across the nation and within the Commonwealth. The review of research was complemented by interviews with key stakeholders and early childhood education leaders in Massachusetts as well as leaders from other states. The Massachusetts Early Education and Care Council Report, as well as testimony at a legislative task force meeting on early childhood issues also informed this policy brief.In order to provide a range of options for policy makers, we profiled three distinctly different approaches, rather than attempting to determine the "best" systems in existence. The three options that we examined in this brief, include: Creating a state-level public-private partnership as has been accomplished in North Carolina and other states;Establishing a new state agency or board like Georgia's Office of School Readiness; andInstalling an interagency oversight committee that connects the multiple agencies currently managing early education and care services in the state

Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate: Developing Technology to Protect America

In response to a congressional mandate and in consultation with Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the National Academy conducted a review of S&T's effectiveness and efficiency in addressing homeland security needs. This review included a particular focus that identified any unnecessary duplication of effort, and opportunity costs arising from an emphasis on homeland security-related research. Under the direction of the National Academy Panel, the study team reviewed a wide variety of documents related to S&T and homeland security-related research in general. The team also conducted interviews with more than 200 individuals, including S&T officials and staff, officials from other DHS component agencies, other federal agencies engaged in homeland security-related research, and experts from outside government in science policy, homeland security-related research and other scientific fields.Key FindingsThe results of this effort indicated that S&T faces a significant challenge in marshaling the resources of multiple federal agencies to work together to develop a homeland security-related strategic plan for all agencies. Yet the importance of this role should not be underestimated. The very process of working across agencies to develop and align the federal homeland security research enterprise around a forward-focused plan is critical to ensuring that future efforts support a common vision and goals, and that the metrics by which to measure national progress, and make changes as needed, are in place