Integrating Scenario Planning Tools with Wildlife Planning Tools

The Morongo Basin Alternative Futures project was undertaken as part of a multi-year regional conservation planning project facilitated by the Sonoran Institute in a rural Mojave Desert setting in Southern California. This innovative approach integrated a normative scenario planning process with a wildlife modeling effort using freely available scenario planning and wildlife modeling software modules in a proprietary Geographic Information Systems setting. Results from this project demonstrate that the integration created a value-added synergy not possible with the implementation of either modeling effort on its own; thus, both analyses were strengthened as useful resources to support thoughtful ongoing and future choices about where and how growth proceeds in the Morongo Basin.