RUBRIC FOR WRITTEN PORTION OF THE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Excellent – A (anything that deviates significantly from the criteria below results in a reduced score).

Length - Written plan has minimum of 10,000 characters, excluding images (use Word to do a word count).
Introduction - justifies mgmt on political, economic and environmental grounds, with references.
Life history - thorough, with evidence that information comes from more than one source. Decimating, welfare, and limiting factors are discussed.
Management practices - provides evidence that scientific literature has been used, rather than generalizations, with at least 20 references to the scientific literature cited. Considerable information is provided in this section, showing that effort has been made to gather background information for the plan.
Study area - thorough description of vegetation, topography and soils, with ground photos tied to aerial photos in a professional-looking way. A plant and animal inventory must be part of this section. Significance of soils and topography is described. Suitability of land surrounding the study area evaluated, so that concept of 'effective habitat size' can be addressed.
Steps of plan - Each step of the plan is thoroughly justified**, and a timeline is established to maintain the property at the particular stage (or stages) of succession necessary for optimal habitat for the target species. A series of modified aerial photos are provided, with hot spots showing how study area will look after each step of the plan.

Budget - must be reasonably realistic, with enough detail provided to assess costs associated with plan over time.
Ecotourism - ecotourism ideas are innovative yet practical. Plan provides sufficient detail, along with map of area (or expanded area) showing trails, trail stations, nature center, etc. Plan ties in with local efforts, with documentation via links to actual local web sites promoting tourism (e.g. River Falls Days, Redwing Birding Festival, etc.) All three components of the 'Grackle Junction' approach should be addressed: resource assessment (tied in with plant and animal inventory in Study Area section above), networking, and marketing.
Conclusion - ties everything together, with estimate of population sizes of target species resulting from plan.

**For example, not just "this area will be burned" - how often will it be burned? What is the effect on litter layer? What kind of heterogeneity, litter layer and prairie plant species are important to target species? Not just "wetlands will be placed here", but what kind of wetlands? (potholes, managed, etc.) Will water control structures be used so that wetland levels can be manipulated? If so, what is the proper drawdown schedule? What does a cross-section of the wetland look like, in terms of whether emergent plants will be encouraged or discouraged? What kind of wetland plants will be present after manipulation? Not just "selective cutting will occur here", but what kind of trees will be encouraged or discouraged from selective cutting? Not just "a variety of age classes of trees will result", but specifically where will different age classes be placed, and what timber harvest schedule will be necessary to achieve this? Not just "a woodlot will be established in the NE corner", but WHY here as opposed to somewhere else? These are the kinds of issues that should be thoroughly addressed.

 

RUBRIC FOR ORAL PORTION OF THE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Excellent – A (anything that deviates significantly from the criteria below results in a reduced score).

Images - “a picture is worth a thousand words” – copious use of images throughout oral presentation – it is much more interesting to look at images than to look at text.
Delivery – your “presentation web page” should be used in place of notecards; try to avoid reading anything word-for-word, but rather present the information as if you are having a normal conversation with the class.
Length - uses full allotment of time 15-20 minutes, with 5-10 minutes for questioning at end. Total presentation length does not exceed 25 minutes.
Introduction - justifies mgmt on political, economic and environmental grounds, with references.
Life history - brief but knowledgeable discussion of decimating, welfare, and limiting factors for the target specie(s). A photo collage showing other species that would benefit from the plan should be shown.
Management practices - brief but knowledgeable overview of types of management techniques used by others.
Study area - description of vegetation, topography and soils, with ground photos tied to aerial photos in a professional-looking way. Significance of soils and topography is described. Concept of effective habitat size is addressed. Plant and animal inventory is presented.
Steps of plan - Each step of the plan is thoroughly justified**, and a timeline is established to maintain the property at the particular stage (or stages) of succession necessary for optimal habitat for the target species. A series of modified aerial photos are provided, with hot spots showing how study area will look after each step of the plan. This section should be the main thrust of your presentation.

Budget - this part of the presentation can be relatively brief, due to time constraints.
Ecotourism - ecotourism ideas are innovative yet practical. Plan provides sufficient detail, along with map of area (or expanded area) showing trails, trail stations, nature center, etc. Plan ties in with local efforts, with documentation via links to actual local web sites promoting tourism (e.g. River Falls Days, Redwing Birding Festival, etc.). All three components of the 'Grackle Junction' approach are discussed - resource assessment (tied in with plant and animal inventory), networking and marketing.
Conclusion - ties everything together, with estimate of population sizes of target species resulting from plan.