Planners often grapple with finding the best methods of communicating their analysis to decision makers. The assessment asked respondents a few questions regarding their interaction with decision makers regarding their conservation planning efforts.
Figure 13: Ease/Difficulty of Communicating Conservation Planning Information to Decision Makers
| Level of Ease/Difficulty | Percent/Number |
| Very Easy | 9% (171) |
| Somewhat Easy | 31% (571) |
| Neutral | 26% (489) |
| Somewhat Difficult | 19% (357) |
| Very Difficult | 8% (146) |
| No Opinion | 4% (72) |
| No Answer | 4% (66) |
Map 2: Ease/Difficulty of Communicating Conservation Planning Information to Decision Makers, grouped by 9 regions. The color scale and corresponding numbers represents the percentage of respondents in each region who found it "very easy" and "somewhat easy."
Figure 14: Resources Used to Make Conservation Planning Decisions
| Resource | Percent/Number |
| Planning Tools | 62% (1159) |
| Local Politics | 50% (1106) |
| Outside Experts | 56% (1051) |
| Public Opinion | 54% (1009) |
| Education/Advocacy Campaigns | 35% (660) |
| Other | 7% (132) |
| Indicated at Least One | 91% (1708) |
| No Conservation Planning Decisions Have Been Made | 4% (67) |
| No Answer | 5% (97) |
Figure 15: Usefulness of Media Types in Communicating Conservation Planning Information With Decision Makers
| Media Type | Percent/Number |
| Maps (printed) | 79% (1482) |
| Mapping Tools (electronic) | 78% (1466) |
| Visualization Tools | 70% (1319) |
| Slide Shows (e.g., PowerPoint) | 63% (1172) |
| Memos and Reports | 56% (1039) |
| 51% (958) | |
| Websites | 49% (912) |
| Time-Series Data in Graphic Format | 36% (667) |
| Videos | 34% (645) |
| Social Media (e.g., Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) | 14% (258) |
| Indicated at Least One | 91% (1702) |
| Indicated None | 9% (170) |
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