WGFD DSS for Visualization, Environmental Commenting, and Habitat Prioritization

Description: 
The utility of GIS has been slow to be realized in some natural resource agencies due to the expertise and cost required to get a useful GIS infrastructure in place. We are working closely with WGFD personnel in this project to plan a GIS application that will bring structure and ease of use to an ArcGIS-based GIS system. Field biologists, habitat specialists, administrators or others are regularly faced with performing Wildlife Environmental Reviews (WERs), or making other important decisions regarding habitat evaluation or management. This GIS-based tool, fully integrated with statewide datasets, will allow efficient visualization and analysis. Biologists will no longer have to rely on several different paper maps, mylar overlays, and disparate databases to visualize and analyze proposed actions. Clear benefits of this approach are that decisions statewide (and perhaps across agencies) are based on the same data and documented well, improving consistency and quality of WERs, habitat improvement projects, and hopefully in the future, game season recommendations, fish stocking recommendations and nongame projects.

Dates:
July 2001 through December 2005

Funding Sponsor:
Wyoming Game and Fish Department

Principal Investigator:
Nathan Nibbelink

Co-Principal Investigator:
Margo Berendsen

Other personnel:
None