Community
Indicators
Local Indicators Sorted by Framework
Category: Endowments
Subcategory: Environment
The indicators in the following list are those rated 5 or higher from Appendix A of the 
Guide to Community Indicators, Second
Edition (note, the SDI Group recommends a ranking of 5 or better if possible in order to provide
a robust measure of livability).
Fish Indicators:
- Wild salmon returning to spawn
- Acres of closed shellfish beds
- Oyster Condition Index
Groundwater Indicator:
- Groundwater quality index
Land Use Indicators
- Total area in significant land-use categories
- Number of acres of major terrestrial ecosystems
- Impervious surfaces
- Acreage of land used for streets
- Number of biogeographical regions with adequate protected areas
- Land area in parks and wildlife refuges
- Percent of significant natural areas protected
- Forest land acres
- Number of acres of public open space
- 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
Wetlands Indicators:
- Acres of natural and restored wetlands
- Size and distribution of significant wetlands
Hazardous Material Indicators:
- Total area of contaminated sites
- Number of underground storage tanks requiring cleanup
Air Indicators:
- Air quality: CO, SO2, SPM, and O3 measurements
- Air quality index
- Particulate matter in air
Awareness Indicators:
- Number of environmental education programs for community
- Students passings environmental education test
Biodiversity Indicators:
- Biodiversity -amphibian
- Biodiversity - plant
- Song bird diversity or population
Surface Water Quality 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
- Index of watershed naturalness
- Bernie Fowler's Sneaker Index - water clarity
http://www.sdi.gov/indicators/lc_en_en.htm
Last Modified: May 13, 2002
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