Monarch butterfly populations are drastically declining due to habitat loss and the species may soon become federally listed. The Monarch Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) is a collaborative initiative between the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and over 50 entities from the energy and transportation sectors. This agreement provides regulatory predictability for enrolled partners and aims to benefit monarch butterflies through the implementation of existing vegetation management practices on energy and transportation lands that results in a net benefit to monarch butterflies.
This presentation will demonstrate the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and mobile data collection technologies throughout the CCAA application, enrollment, and field monitoring processes. Key topics will include an introduction to the CCAA initiative, illustrative client case studies, methodology for compiling and analyzing spatial datasets, and techniques for conducting spatial analysis of roadway networks and utility corridors to identify potential enrolled and adoptable lands. Additionally, we will discuss ground truthing methods and post-enrollment habitat monitoring procedures. Using these technological methods, these projects take an active and comprehensive effort to protect and restore vital habitats for monarch butterflies across vast areas of the United States.
Jesse Therrien is an Environmental Scientist and Senior GIS Specialist with VHB based out of Rutland, Vermont. He has been working in consulting sciences field in Vermont for nearly 20 years, with a focus on energy and renewables, natural resources, water resources and land planning... Read More →
The New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP), a partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), developed and currently maintains the Invasive Species Tiers ( “the Tiers”), which guide management prioritization for hundreds of invasives species with high invasive potential across New York State. Each year, NYNHP runs a spatial analysis to aggregate hundreds of thousands of species observation occurrences for invasive species in and near the state to generate population counts by species, which are then ranked to guide management decisions. After final expert review, the resulting Tier values are published to a public interactive data table which provides links to species distribution maps within iMapInvasives, as well as links to regional views by Tier Value. This presentation will cover: 1)A brief background of iMapInvasives and community biodiversity data collection platforms, 2)The process by which the Tiers are generated, 3)How these results are shared, and 4)The impact of the Tiers on invasive species management action and decisions.
NYNHP Invasive Species Tiers: https://www.nynhp.org/invasives/species-tiers-table/ NYNHP Invasive Species Tier Maps by PRISM: https://www.nynhp.org/invasives/species-tiers-maps/
The Town of Branford, a Connecticut coastal community bordering Long Island Sound, was looking to update their Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) that had traditionally been a very long, encyclopedic document. The Town had a limited budget with which to update the NRI using the same methods as before; therefore, GZA proposed developing a digital web experience application (Experience Builder) to make the NRI a more interactive experience where the user can search the maps for locations of interest, turn on and off layers, print custom maps, and click web links for more information. This NRI relies heavily on mapping to tell the story while having short summary text with links to organizations that provide more in-depth information on the topic. This web experience utilized publicly available GIS data that is live-linked to the original dataset so that it will automatically incorporate future updates. Additionally, the NRI is more widely accessible to the public where it can be viewed on multiple devices including a laptop, tablet, or phone. This web experience can be used by Town officials and the general public, and also acts as a teaching tool for classrooms to learn more about the natural resources within the Town of Branford. The presentation will provide an overview of the project process, take aways, and discuss future uses of Experience Builder.
