Transcript No Slide Title

Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project:
An Overview of Project Goals and
Organization
Julie Prior-Magee
USGS - Biological Resources Discipline
Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
US-IALE 2004, Las Vegas, Nevada: Transdisciplinary Challenges in Landscape Ecology
The Southwest Regional
Gap Analysis Project
A Multi-agency Initiative
SWReGAP
USGS BRD
USGS EDC
US EPA
BLM
CDOW
USU
NMSU
NAU
CSU
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Presentation Topics

What is GAP – mission, objectives, and
products

SWReGAP –
project organization,
responsibilities, and timeline

Benefits of a regional approach
What Is GAP?
A “gap” is the lack of
representation or underrepresentation of an element of
biodiversity (plant community
or animal species) in an area
intended for its long term
maintenance.
Gap analysis is a process to
keep common species common
by plugging the gaps in our
network of lands managed for
biodiversity.
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Mission Statement
“To promote conservation of biodiversity
through information...
by providing conservation assessments of
natural communities and native species,..
and to facilitate the application of this
information to land management.”
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
GAP Objectives
1) map the distributions of natural communities using NVCS –
LAND COVER MAPPING
2) map predicted habitat of native animal species –
ANIMAL HABITAT MODELING
3) map the degree of management for biodiversity maintenance of
land tracts and water bodies focusing on intent –
STEWARDSHIP MAPPING
4) analyze the representation of biotic elements in the conservation
network to identify “gaps” in long-term security –
GAP ANALYSIS
5) provide this information to the public and those entities charged
with land use research, policy, planning, and management.
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Analyses:
Animals
Who are the land
stewards and how
well is the animal
species
protected?
% USFS: 53.0%
% BLM: 0.85%
% Protected: 7.3%
The Gap Analysis Program
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Products of GAP
Digital products on CD-ROM and the Internet:

Land Cover GIS Coverage
 Animal

Habitat GIS Coverages
Stewardship/Ownership GIS Coverages
 Analyses
of “gaps” and general
representation
 Areas
of species richness
 Ancillary data
 A report
used in modeling
of methods and results
SWReGAP
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
USU
Logan
The Southwest
Regional Gap
Analysis Project
(SWReGAP) maps
according to
biogeographic zones
rather than state
boundaries to achieve
a regional seamless
biotic data set.
CDOW &
BLM NSTC
Denver
NREL/CSU
EPA
Las Vegas
CPFS
Flagstaff
NMCFWRU
Las Cruces
Work is coordinated
as a regional effort
among 5 state-based
institutions,
NatureServe, and
other cooperators.
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Who is SWReGAP?
State Project Principle Investigators and NatureServe Cooperator:
AZ: Kathryn Thomas, USGS Colorado Plateau Field Station, Northern Arizona
University, Flagstaff.
CO: Don Schrupp, Colorado Division of Wildlife; Lee O’Brien, NREL, Colorado
State University; Dianne Osborne, BLM-NSTC.
NV: William Kepner and David Bradford, EPA – National Exposure Research Lab,
Las Vegas.
NM: Ken Boykin, USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, New
Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
UT: Doug Ramsey and John Lowry, Utah State University;
Collin Homer, USGS EROS Data Center.
NatureServe: Regional plant ecology coordination – Pat Comer and Keith Schulz
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Project Components and Responsibilities




Land cover mapping is coordinated by the RS/GIS
Lab at Utah State University.
Animal habitat modeling is coordinated by the
NMCFWRU at New Mexico State University.
Stewardship mapping and analysis are also
coordinated by the NMCFWRU.
Individual state labs work cooperatively
through the regional labs to produce
regionally consistent and seamless
data sets for the Southwest.
The Gap Analysis Program
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
SWReGAP
Project Timeline
1998
First organizational workshops held.
1999
Planning workshop held and initial GAP funds distributed.
Regional and State coordinators hired.
2000-1 Primary landsat imagery acquired along with field data.
Regional animal habitat modeling methods established.
Land cover mapping and animal habitat modeling work
ongoing.
2002-3 Land cover mapping and animal modeling continues.
Stewardship mapping begins in 2003.
2004
Land cover mapping and stewardship mapping will be
complete in September 2004.
2005
Animal modeling will be complete in March 2005. Analysis
completed, report written, and data published by fall 2005.
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Some SWReGAP Vital
Statistics

Project area: 530, 415 sq mi, 339,465,600 ac
- 93% of the size of Alaska

BLM lands: 31% of area

USFS lands: 14% of area

State lands: 7% of area

Tribal lands: 9% of area
The Gap Analysis Program
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
SWReGAP
Benefits of Regional SWReGAP
Partnership
 Consistent data provides a common base for interagency
analysis (regional consistency spatially and thematically with
NVCS).
 Regional data will allow regional planning as a context for
site-level management and NEPA compliance.
 A high quality data set will permit regional assessments of
landscape health and trends and reveal patterns only visible at
that scale.
 It provides a sampling frame for finer-scale data collection and
study.
The Gap Analysis Program
SWReGAP
http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap
Contacts
 Regional Coordinator:
Julie Prior-Magee [email protected]
 SWReGAP website:
http://leopold.nmsu.edu/fwscoop/swregap/default.htm
 National GAP website: http://www.gap.uidaho.edu or
search “gap analysis”
Contains all GAP contacts, state project status and links, and
state data.
 The National GAP Office: 208/885-3555