North Central Texas Regional Ecological Framework

State: Texas

Applicant: North Central Texas Council of Governments

Grant Amount: $177,500

Period of Performance: 31 months

Summary: PDF

Project Status: The NCTCOG signed its contract with FHWA and held its official kick-off meeting.

As of December 2009 the status of the NCTCOG Regional Ecosystem Framework Development included:

• Using the recently updated Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) 12 digit Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC) subwatershed geography as the foundation of a REF for the North Texas region. By using the subwatershed geography, it is hoped that collaborative environmental planning among local, State, and Federal agencies will be streamlined and transportation infrastructure planning will be able to integrate environmental considerations in a more efficient and meaningful manner and at an ecosystem scale (versus the project level).
• Selecting three Transportation Corridors (two roadway and one transit) that are currently in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth region to be used as pilot corridors to carry through the development and implementation of the REF.
• Completing an assessment of Federal and State management/strategic plans and summarizing the conservation goals and strategies of each agency. The identified conservation priorities and goals (with an emphasis on those specific to the Dallas-Fort Worth region) will serve as a foundation for the identification of important environmental resources and environmental priorities nationwide and in Texas. Through consultation with local resource agency representatives, these larger, overarching State and Federal goals will be tailored to provide meaningful conservation priorities and measures for the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
• Conducting the first round of advisory team meetings for the three pilot areas to bring agencies up to speed with NCTCOG’s plans of linking environment and transportation planning as well as identify and discuss critical issues/resources (“vital ecosystems”) that are deemed important to these pilot areas. This discussion is useful for defining what environmental impacts may exist or may be caused by transportation infrastructure.
• Meeting with several resource agencies to build rapport and seek feedback from the experts about what vital ecosystems may exist in the three pilot areas and across the region.
• Collecting, identifying, and mapping data resources to assist in the identification of “vital ecosystems.” This will aid in the process of placing value/characterizing the region’s subwatersheds, particularly those that intersect with the three pilot areas.

Contact:
Dan Lamers
Senior Program Manager
(817) 695-9263
dlamers@nctcog.org

Tamara Cook (Hollowell)
Senior Transportation Planner
(817) 608-2395
tcook@nctcog.org

For questions or feedback on this subject, please contact Bethaney Bacher-Gresock at 202-366-4196.