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Community Indicators

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Local Indicators:
Ecosystem Integrity

The indicators in the following list are those rated 5 or higher from Appendix A of the Exiting Federal web siteThe Guide to Sustainable Community Indicators, Second Edition, by Maureen Hart, 1999.

Biodiversity Indicators:

  • Biodiversity -amphibian
  • Biodiversity - plant
  • Song bird diversity or population
  • Number of species at risk
  • Proportion of species approaching target population size
  • Acres of occupied grizzly habitat
  • Tailed frog population
  • Stream miles opened for migratory fish
Fish Indicators:
  • Fish species with consumption restricted
  • Commercial salmon catch in watershed
  • Overfished fisheries compared to fisheries not overfished
  • Wild salmon returning to spawn
  • Acres of closed shellfish beds
  • Oyster Condition Index
Land Use Indicators
  • Land use patterns
  • Agricultural land loss / total arable land
  • Open land lost to development in square km
  • Total area in significant land-use categories
  • Rate of change of wilderness area
  • Number of acres of major terrestrial ecosystems
  • Acres of cropland that have been converted to developed land
  • Impervious surfaces
  • Acreage of land used for streets
  • Number of biogeographical regions with adequate protected areas
  • Acres under integrated pest management
  • Percent of new residential lots within 1/4 mile of services
  • Land area in parks and wildlife refuges
  • Percent of significant natural areas protected
  • Forest land acres
  • Loss of primary forests / total primary forests remaining
  • Number of acres of public open space
  • Area used for organic agriculture / area used for chemical intensive agriculture
  • Proportion of original agricultural land reserve (ALR) still designated ALR
  • Trees lost and gained through multi-family development
  • Number of trees in urban 'forest'
  • Open space in urban villages
  • Parks and playgrounds as percent of urban area
  • Land parcels greater than 80 acres, and greater than 160 acres
  • Privately owned acres placed under conservation easement
  • Number of trees on public property
  • Area of lands under formal agreement for wildlife habitat
  • Index of land naturalness
  • Acres of environmentally sensitive areas
Soil Indicators:
  • Soil erosion per acre of cropland
  • Average soil erosion on cultivated cropland as a proportion of tolerable rate
  • Area of land affected by soil erosion and salinity
Surface Water Indicators
  • Percentage of estuarine areas not suitable for shellfish harvesting
  • Quality of river water entering country / quality leaving country
  • Number of days all beaches are open for swimmming
  • Percent of streams you can drink from
  • Fishable and swimmable river miles and lake acres
  • Fecal coliform count in surface water
  • Miles of rivers not suitable for fishing due to dioxin
  • Percentage area of lakes fully suitable for swimming
  • Index of watershed naturalness
  • Bernie Fowler's Sneaker Index - water clarity
  • Amount of road salt used on rural regional roads
  • Compliance with dissolved oxygen standards
  • River compliance with metals water standards
  • Bay grasses recovering, in acres
Wetlands Indicators
  • Acres of natural and restored wetlands
  • Size and distribution of significant wetlands

Related Topics:


http://www.sdi.gov/indicators/ci_ecosy.htm
Last Modified: 4/22/02