The Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services (FRMES) project was designed as a shared learning and methods development process for ecosystem services evaluation in federal resource planning and management. The project was coordinated by the National Ecosystem Services Partnership (NESP) in collaboration with federal agencies, NGOs, academics, and others.

The project managed across-agency and cross-sector community to share ideas and build a consistent understanding and use of ecosystem services in resource management and planning processes. The result is this guidebook, which acknowledges agencies’ legal authorities and mandates, and builds on decision processes and current planning and management assessment methods common across many agencies.

The project reflects the work of

• Technical working groups, which developed scientifically robust methods for ecosystem services assessments.
• Community of practice, a forum for sharing agency experiences and providing feedback on this guidebook’s design and content.

The FRMES project is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Environmental Markets. It has received in-kind support from Duke University, academics and NGOs, and partner agencies.

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