Ever wonder what happens to all those data being collected? In Island County, we are fortunate to be the focus of a plethora of data collection efforts. We have comprehensive nearshore assessments that describe where our habitats are and how those habitats are built. We have habitat assessments that are a collaborative effort between citizen science groups and state agencies. We have long-term status and trends data sets on intertidal habitats and presence for a few specific species. We have a high resolution shoreline armor dataset and we have a predictive probability model for coastal flood risk. But what do we do with all of these data? What kind of information can be extrapolated from all this hard work? Most importantly, how is it helping us make a difference to our nearshore management? Island County’s Department of Natural Resources is working with our partners and committees to utilize this information to help guide and inform their decisions. We are finding that there are two broad categories of data sets – those that are most useful in informing decisions and those that are most useful in communication and outreach. We will discuss which sets fall into which category, and how we are working to evolve our datasets into useful next steps
