ESRI Conservation Program Resources:

General Conservation

(ECP and CTSP members, sites of interest for mapping/GIS, scholarly papers and ESRI Conference Proceedings, and sites with public conservation and GIS data for downloading) (Under Construction)

(Legend: CTSP sites are coded "c" plus the year of the grant, (cs=software, cm=mac), ECP grantees are coded "e". Many groups, especially newer grantees, do not yet have their own sites and are colored green. Other new groups may be described or supported by other sites, INDEX)

1000 Friends of Florida Fl c99 . (P.O. Box 5948 Tallahassee, Florida 32314-5948 Work Phone: (850) 222-6277 Work Fax: (850) 222-1117 Main Email: dpen@tallynet.com ) "protect and improve Florida's quality of life by advocating responsible planning for the state's population growth. Our planners, attorneys and community activists work to protect natural areas, fight urban sprawl, promote sensible development patterns, and provide affordable housing. Above all, we strive to give citizens the tools to keep Florida's communities livable...Over the last decade, the advances in personal computers and software have changed the field of planning analysis. It is very common for local governments or individual developers to have the ability to manipulate data to show various land use scenarios or patterns when making decisions. 1000 Friends is often in the position of evaluating those decisions. Yet we are hampered because we do not have the same data manipulation capabilities as those on the other side of the table. ...Past efforts of 1000 Friends where the use of "borrowed" GIS has been important include: helping to develop various greenway/trails in the state; analyzing natural resource impacts for various specific land use planning legal cases; and, participation in community visioning and land planning scenarios. " see: Planning for Tomorrow: A Citizen's Guide to Smarter Growth in Florida

1000 Friends of Oregon . ( 534 Southwest Third Avenue, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97204, Phone 503-497-1000 Fax 503-223-0073 E-mail rll@friends.org Contact: Robert Liberty ) . "works for land-use policies that conserve farm and forest lands, protect natural resources, and promote compact and livable cities. ...using advisory committees on land use and sprawl with groups such as farmers, timber producers, developers, and local officials." Check their map of their statewide network of collaborators . See how they used their GIS in: Overview and Accomplishments of the Oregon and Metro Portland Planning Programs . Vision to Action: How 1000 Friends of Oregon helped Portland grow, say no to a big highway and stay healthy .

Adirondack Council Ny . (The Adirondack Council PO Box D-2, 2 Church Street Elizabethtown, NY 12932-0640 Tel. (518) 873-2240 Fax (518) 873-6675 e-mail: adkcouncil@aol.com GIS Contact: Richard McCaffrey richardm@eagle.ptialaska.net) "The Adirondack Council is a non-profit environmental group that has been working since 1975 to protect the open-space resources of New York State's six-million-acre Adirondack Park and to help sustain the natural and human communities of the region. The Council's advocacy on behalf of the Park also extends to the state capital and Washington. "

Alaska Boreal Forest Council c97 (Alaska Boreal Forest Council, Hidden Drive, Number 3, P. O. Box 84530, Fairbanks, AK 99708-4530 USA Tel: 907-457-8453 Fax: 907-457-5185 E-mail: abfc@polarnet.com ) . We seek to define ecologically sustainable forestry in Interior Alaska's boreal forest. Learning as we go, our mission is to build consensus among all members of the Tanana River Basin community; acknowledging that parts of the forest may be used without damaging the ecosystem. Through respect, earnest application, and rigorous commitment, we believe resource conflicts must be resolved through a process of consensus. This is a departure from traditional bureaucratic forest management and is called "community forestry." It requires sharing the active responsibility of forest management among elected officials, agency personnel, scientists, forest users and other people. We seek to become community foresters.

Alaska Center for the Environment (519 W. 8th, #201, Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 274-3621 Fax 274-8733 email: mailto:akcenter@alaska.net)  . "ACE is a non-profit environmental advocacy and education organization dedicated to the conservation of Alaska's natural resources." Check out their conservation accomplishments here .

Alaska Southeast Links - Environment & Ecology . by Manchee & McLean, Curators of the Juneau Web, PO Box 32960 Juneau, Alaska 99803 907-789-HELP (4357)

Alaska Marine Conservation Council c97 . (P.O. Box 101145 Anchorage, AK 99510-1145 Tel: 907-277-5357 Fax: 907-277-5975 amcc@igc.apc.org GIS Contact: Francine Bennis mailto:fjb@akmarine.org .) . "AMCC's membership consists of fishermen, subsistence users, researchers and others throughout Alaska working to protect the health and diversity of our marine ecosystem. Its goals include: clean fishing; ecosystem management; marine habitat protection; sustainable community-based fisheries; clean water; increased marine research; and participation by coastal Alaskans in decisions affecting the marine environment." . See the Habitat Mapping Project for their GIS work "AMCC recently added a layer of local and traditional knowledge to our latest mapping project on Kodiak Island red king crab. In the summer of 1998, Violet Yeaton conducted interviews with local people of Kodiak Island regarding red king crab abundance and distribution and how it has changed in the last thirty years. The information gathered is being applied in GIS maps to help illustrate the recent history of red king crab around the Kodiak Archipelago. " . See Alaska Marine Conservation Council's Major Campaigns . GIS NEWS: "Having the capacity to use ArcView and the maps it creates is of tremendous help in our work in fisheries reform. A big part of what we do is public education, and often the best, most direct way to convey a message is through maps. Additionally, we can be part of the ever-expanding data loop now that federal, state, and local agencies are devoting attention to GIS work in fisheries and other aspects of the marine environment. As mentioned earlier, we are working on a GIS project of the red king crab Around Kodiak Island, mapping the changes in their abundance and distribution over the last several decades. There was a dramatic development of the red king crab commercial fishery there in the 1960's and 1970's, followed by an equally dramatic collapse of the fishery by 1983. We are using survey and fishery data to help track the changes. Additionally, one of the "layers" of data is based upon interviews we're conducting with people to collect local and traditional knowledge regarding red king crab and the fishery. In a way, this is a melding of the modern and the ancient; we are able to bridge the gaps of knowledge and understanding in the marine environment by working directly with people who know it well through their day to day living experiences, then have the information conveyed via computer generated maps. "

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies (Box 8731 Missoula, MT 59807 ph:406-721-5420 fax:406-721-9917 email: mailto:awr@wildrockies.org) . "formed in 1988 to meet the challenge of saving the Wild Rockies Bioregion from habitat destruction and deforestation. We're 700 organizations, business owners and thousands of individuals who have joined together in an ecosystem-based, bioregional approach to protect and restore this great region. " See: Ecosystem Defense Project . Don't miss their Map showing major designations under The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA). . see: Core Ecosystems of the Northern Rockies . see: Protecting Biological Corridors for another fine map . Their Salvage Logging Report includes PDF maps of salvage sales in the northern rockies .

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Population and Sustainable Development Program Dc e98 . (200 New York Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005 Tel: (202) 326-6658 * Fax: (202) 289-4958 Email: vdompka@aaas.org GIS Contact: Lars Bromley ) "Funded by a grant from the Summit Foundation, PSD is currently collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to use ArcInfo and ArcView to manage and display the datasets which best depict population-environment interactions. PSD is drawing on the AAAS membership--the worlds largest federation of scientific and engineering societies--and our international contacts for expertise in choosing, analyzing, and commenting on the data gathered to ensure the greatest accuracy....Our outputs from this project will be extensive. First, a publication entitled "A World Atlas of Populations and the Environment," will be released in late 1999 to coincide with the anticipated Cairo +5 international population conferences. This Atlas, which Bansen Publishing has expressed interest in, will be distributed among institutions, academia, business, and individuals worldwide. Themes such as 'Human Populations and Coastal Areas,' or 'Human Consumption and CO2 Emissions,' will be chosen, data gathered from public and institutional sources, and GIS-generated maps created for review. The most effective of these maps will then be rendered for publishing in the Atlas together with commentary supplied by leading experts in their respective fields. "

American Wildlands, Bozeman MT c96 . (40 East Main Street, Suite #2, Bozeman, MT 59715, Phone: (406) 586-8175 Fax: (406) 586-8242, Email: webmail@wildlands.org ) American Wildlands is a science-based activist and advocacy group dedicated to preserving and maintaining wildlands and wildlife in the Northern Rocky Mountain region....As we defined our approach to the problem (science, law, politics, economics) and the implementation of a science-based solution (education, advocacy, activism) we felt that the structure (or infrastructure) we were shaping was analagous to a tree. American Wildlands Links Pages & Data Sources .

Appalachian Mountain Club, Gorham NH c95. (5 Joy Street Boston, MA 02108 tel:617-523-0636 fax:617-523-0722 email:conservation@amcinfo.org) "Since the AMC was founded in 1876, we have been at the forefront of the environmental protection movement. By co-founding several of New England's leading environmental organizations, and working in coalition with these and many more groups, the AMC has positively influenced legislation and public opinion. GIS PROGRAM: "AMC's Research Department uses GIS in many of their conservation efforts and research programs. Working with the Northern Forest Alliance, a consortium of 30 environmental organizations, the AMC uses Landsat satellite imagery and other data sources to inventory and map natural resources on over 18 million acres in northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Through the application of a GIS system with Landsat imagery they have identified areas of recent human impact and have located potentially critical wildlife habitat and ecosystems deserving of protection. The map-based and factual information from the AMC's Northern Forest database were critical to the completion of a report released by AMC and two conservation partners, entitled "An inventory and Ranking of the Northern Forest Lands of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine". The GIS program also provided the ecological maps and analyses used in a report released by the Northern Forest Alliance entitled "Wildlands: and Conservation Strategy for the Northern Forest...The AMC's Research Department has also initiated several cooperative projects with large timberland owners to inventory and map their lands such that timber harvest plans can be better integrated with resource protection. During the summer of 1996, AMC scientists and student interns worked with the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge and a large timber owner to inventory/ map sensitive ecological resources, and to develop ecologically sensitive timber harvest plans on their lands which abut the refuge. This project has received extensive and favorable publicity (including a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal ) and has been widely noted as an example of the type of cooperative effort that is needed to further the twin goals of economic and environmental sustainability for the Northeast. In addition, the AMC serves as a major source of information on the region, and provides maps and data to a wide range of conservation groups, land trusts, state agencies, and public policy forums. Recently, AMC produced new, digitally-composed hiking maps of the 790,000-acre White Mountain National Forest region by creating digital base maps and GPSing over 1,200 miles of hiking trails in rugged, mountainous terrain. These maps are used by tens of thousands of hikers annually. " " see: Northern Forest Ecology : "This map, derived from satellite imagery, shows (in red) the cumulative amount of forest clearing from 1973-1991 in the vicinity of Baxter State Park and Moosehead Lake in central Maine. Most of this represents clear-cutting, but other clearing due to fire, windstorms, or development is also present.". see: Alpine Ecology. . Don't miss the Land & Water Conservation Fund project page, with full details on this fundamental source of US open space funding. You can see Online Maps of LWCF lands in your state here, or report by congressional district, project type, or national land unit . "In 1965, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to preserve open space, develop recreation opportunities, and assure that all Americans have access to quality outdoor recreation. It was a simple idea: A "pay as you go" program using revenues from resource use to support the creation of parks, forests, clean water, and open spaces...Congress has broken its promise with the American people by misusing the Land and Water Conservation Fund. LWCF receives $900 million each year, and every year, as much as 85 percent of the Fund is diverted for purposes other than conservation and recreation. In fact, since Congress originally made its commitment to conserve the American outdoors in 1965, it has diverted $12 billion of LWCF funds to other uses. In recent years, Congress has not funded the State Grant Program at all. Every year, we lose countless opportunities to conserve precious resources and open space for all Americans to enjoy. . "

Appalachian Trail Conference Wv e98 . (799 Washington Street P.O. Box 807 Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425 tel:304/535-6331 email:info@atconf.org GIS Contact: Robert B. Williams bwilliams@atconf.org) "a volunteer-centered nonprofit, maintains the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail footpath and helps manage the lands that protect it. " GIS PROGRAM: "In coordination with the National Park Service, the Appalachian Trail Conference is now working with GIS Specialist Mark Grupe. This addition to our staff will enable us to begin work on the construction of a GIS digital database. Our intent is to link the GIS system with the Trail Resources Database (TREAD) that is already in use. Linking Treads to a GIS will enable us to incorporate spatial relations to our existing database. The combination of mapping and relational database capabilities of GIS will help us to prioritize lands in terms of preservation and protection. The flexibility in GIS display, along with the visual images that can be created will be influential when approaching landowners and other organizations with conservation projects."

Aral Sea Information Committee, Sausalito, CA e92. (William T. Davoren, 1055 Fort Cronkhite Sausalito, CA 94965 , Phone: 415. 331. 5122 Fax: 415. 331. 2722 email: perc@igc.apc.org ) . "The ASIC was formed in Moscow in March 1991 by non- governmental representatives of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyztan, plus southern Kazakhstan) and the USA. The primary goals are to bring the problems of the Aral Basin to the world audience and to bring rational management to the water, soil, air and public health resources of the Basin."

Aspen Wilderness Workshop, Co c99 . (900 El Jebel Road, #66 Deer Trail, El Jebel, CO 81628 ,P. O. Box 9025, Aspen, CO 81612 USA tel:(970) 544-9509 fax:(970) 544-9509 email:sloan@rof.net GIS contact: Richard Compton, Beverly Keifer) growing out of GIS developments at the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Program and the Mt. Sopris Sierra Club in 1998 . " The Aspen Wilderness Workshop was founded in 1966 to advocate for the creation and protection of Wilderness Areas and to promote wilderness values in the Aspen, Colorado area. Since then the mission has grown to embrace the protection of all mountain ecosystems threatened by a burgeoning recreation industry as well as direct resource extraction. As small, localized ski areas have mushroomed into regional resort and support complexes, the Workshop has had to expand its area of concern as well. This area, which encompasses most of the White River National Forest, is roughly a semi-circle with a 60-mile radius extending west, north and east from Aspen. "..GIS PLAN: "The mission of the Ecosystem Mapping Project is to provide GIS mapping services to its parent organization (the Aspen Wilderness Workshop) and other local and regional non-profit groups for the purposes of public education and conservation advocacy. The Ecosystem Mapping Project is also a regional affiliate of the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project...we will use GIS primarily for our ongoing work with the White River National Forest's Forest Plan Update, and also to provide technical support for the Colorado BLM Wilderness Campaign being led by the Colorado Environmental Coalition. ."

Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions . (P.O. Box 157, Mendham, NJ 07945 Phone: 201-539-7547 Fax: 201-539-7713 Sally Dudley, Executive Director mailto:SallyANJEC@aol.com) . "The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) provides technical training and information resources for municipal environmental commissioners, other local officials, and interested citizens." An excellent overview of ANJEC's GIS work and good advice for anyone starting GIS is given in: . . Toward Planned Open Space: "..How can municipalities move toward a more comprehensive, orderly and cost-effective open space effort? In contra-distinction to the ad-hoc decision making currently employed, it is possible to develop a planned approach to open space acquisition that prevents community discord and results in an orderly strategic plan with public support...One promising tool to assist in developing an overall planning effort involves computer analysis using Geographic Information Systems, abbreviated as "GIS." ..With these tools and skills, your commission will be able to aid your community's open space planning efforts by producing maps of critical environmental factors such as wetlands, slopes, land use and land cover. ".. . Find out about Environmental Commissions and how they work for the environment .

Audubon Kissimmee Prarie Sanctuary Fl e97 . (100 Riverwoods Circle, Lorida, FL 33857 tel:941-467-8497 fax:941-467-8460 Audubon@okeechobee.com GIS contact: Dr. Paul N. Gray ) "The natural hydrology of the Sanctuary has been altered due to activities on neighboring properties. These hydrological problems have caused reproductive failure in our population of endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrows in two of the past three years. This is one of the four populations of these sparrows remaining in the world. We hope to be able to solve some of these problems with improved information that we can attain by using Spatial Analyst. Spatial Analyst will also help in other areas of sanctuary management."

Bastrop County Environmental Council, Bastrop TX c95 . (Gary Bassner , P.O. Box 1069 , Bastrop TX 78602 , (512) 321-1600, Ansel Glover, Tom Dureka (akamai@onr.com)) "Formed in 1990 in response to the threat of a hazardous waste facility the BCEN has grown to be Bastrop's primary environmental organization. BCEN, a non-profit organization, produces a free educational newsletter, supports scholarships for deserving students, supports citizen's efforts to protect the Colorado River, and is committed to the preservation and conservation of the natural resources of Bastrop County." . "programs include dedication of wildlife preserves in our urbanizing county, creation of a regional environmental network between Austin and Houston focussing on environmental concerns of the rural populations, founding a regional ground water management association, and others." .

BC Wild, Vancouver BC c95. (Box 2241, Main Post Office, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1H2, Phone: (604) 669-4802 Fax: (604) 669-6833 E-mail: twebb@helix.net) . BC Wild is dedicated to healthy environments, economies and communities that can be sustained in the long term, with primary focus on wilderness protection and sustainable forest practices. Through its mapping program, BC Wild provided conservation groups with satellite images of areas under negotiation in Commission on Resources and Environment processes. Other mapping projects (A Conservation Vision Map of Southwestern British Columbia) have identified the gaps between what is already protected and what is needed to conserve representative samples of the province's diverse ecosystems. ...Proposed protected areas were identified during a series of workshops by individuals representing a range of environmental organizations. Participants were asked to draw lines around those areas most important to their respective organizations and then BC Wild completed a GAP Analysis.

Bicycle Federation of America Dc c98 . (1506 21st Street, NW Suite 200 Washington DC 20036 202.463.6622 202.463.6625 moemail@erols.com ) "We prepared a joint presentation on the use of GIS/ArcView in bicycle and pedestrian planning at our biennial conference, Pro Bike/Pro Walk, in September -- and have founded a GIS/Bike/Ped users group to support the development of improved methods in this area. We are working on a new model which relies on the spatial analyst for several key functions, iincludingthe introduction of slope and grade into the model. "

Biodiversity Associates, Laramie WY c95 . (P.O. Box 6032, Laramie, WY 82070 (307)745-7776, 742-7978 Leila Stanfield, Jeff Kessler email:jkessler@igc.apc.org) . Biodiversity Associates work to protect native species and their habitats, primarily on public lands in the Rocky Mountain West. "

Border Information & Solutions Network (BISN) Tx e98 . (143 East Price Road, Brownsville, Tx 78521 USA tel:956-546-1161 fax:956-982-1876 email: bisn@bisn.org ) "is dedicated to promoting sustainable development of the US/Mexico border by enhancing collaboration and communication through the Internet. GIS NEWS: "A GIS workshop with presenters from ESRI and INEGI representatives was held on Tuesday, June 10th from 8 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The workshop was held in conjunction with the meeting of the Transboundary Resource Inventory Program (TRIP) and enabled users and potential users of GIS to explore the opportunities and realities of GIS use within the lower Rio Grande/Rio Bravo region. "

Bucks County Audubon Society Pa e98 . (6324 Upper York Road, New Hope, PA 18938 tel:(215) 297-5880 fax:(215) 297-0835 email:BCAS@BCAS.org ) . "With over 2300 members, BCAS is one of the largest citizen membership groups representing environmental and ecological interests in Bucks County...The Bucks County Audubon Society has collected 200 years worth of birding data, making our collection a valuable resource. This data has already been used in several projects including the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Index, the Bucks County Natural Resources Inventory, the _Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas_ and a book, _The Birds of Bucks County_. In depth analysis made possible with GIS technology can make the data even more useful. Environmental education is the foucus of Bucks County Audubon Society. "

Canaan Valley Institute Wv e98 , (Davis, WV 26260 . OR . P.O. Box 673 Route 1, Box 190 Snowbird Building Davis, WV 26260, tel:304)-866-4739 fax:(304)-866-4759 Gis Contact: Paul Kinder pkinder@mail.canaanvi.org ) committed to improving the quality of life for the residents of the Mid-Atlantic Highlands, offers assistance to eligible groups interested in enhancing the economic and environmental sustainability of their communities." GIS PROGRAM: "..Complile and organize existing GIS data (from Fed, State, Local, Private Sources) and create customized or tailored coverages and shapefiles to serve the needs of local watershed stakeholder groups. All data that we compile or create will be designed for use with ArcView at the local level. We will assist local groups in conservation activities by (1) providing data and information critical to problem identification and assessment and (2) provide the education and training necessary to use these data with ESRI tools such as ArcView, ArcExplorer." . GIS Projects & Data Server: Canaan Valley Institute Map Browser Live interactive mapping, Canaan Valley Institute Thematic Mapping, ArcExplorer Data Server, GIS Data Internet Links . Don't Miss their GIS INTERACTIVE MAPPER . "Welcome! This interactive mapping page offers access to many spatial data layers for this region. Different map layers may be displayed by checking the boxes next to the layer names, then pressing the Update Map button. Click on the layer names for more information about a layer. " also see The Watershed Approach and Why Watersheds? .

Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists . (Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists National Office PO BOX 962, Station F Toronto, ON Canada M4Y 2N9, email: cseb@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca) . "Today the CSEB members hail from a diversity of environmental biology disciplines, including wildlife, fisheries, forestry, environmental toxicology, limnology, soils, and zoology."

Center for Biological Diversity . (P.O. Box 710, Tucson AZ 85702-0710, TEL: 520.623.5252, FAX: 520.623.9797 email: mailto:tortuga@sw-center.org or swcbd@sw-center.org GIS Contact: Mr. Noah Greenwald, email: ngreenwald@sw-center.org ) (Formerly The Southwest Center for Biological Diversity) "Protecting and restoring natural ecosystems and imperiled species through science, education, policy, and environmental law." CBD represents the union of the most successful biodiversity activists in the Southwest. It combines rigorous conservation biology with innovative legal strategies and a powerful vision of what we can build together. " see: FIRE & FOREST ECOSYSTEM HEALTH IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST by Kieran Suckling . see Center Biodiversity Alerts for a comprehensive index/database of important issues and crises. "Since its inception in 1989, the Southwest Center has filed 34 Endangered Species Act (ESA) petitions for species including the Mexican spotted owl, northern goshawk, Gila trout, California gnatcatcher, jaguar, southwestern willow flycatcher, and Sonoran tiger salamander. Together, these species inhabit virtually every habitat type in the Southwest from coastal wetlands and maritime chaparral, to old growth forests, to desert riparian areas and mountain streams. The Southwest Center has followed up the petitions by filing over 50 habitat protection lawsuits, and by conducting extensive public education and organizing around ecosystem protection....The ability of Geographic Information Systems to integrate complex population and spatial data, and allow in-depth analysis and communication of this data will greatly enhance all Southwest Center Programs. The Southwest Center's active involvement in listing and protecting endangered species requires accurate surveys of the status of imperiled species and an ability to effectively convey this knowledge to various state and federal agencies, involved scientists, and the public. "

Central Cascades Alliance, Or c99 . (203 Second Street, next to the Columbia Art Gallery, PO Box 1104, Hood River, OR 97031 tel:541.387.2274, fax:541.387.3182 email:cascades@gorge.net GIS Contact: Kimberly Burkland) "The Central Cascades Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the long-term economic, cultural and biological sustainability of the Central Cascades community. We are motivated by the historical fact that societies that ignore the ecological health of the land surrounding them do not survive. CCA's region spans Washington and Oregon, extending from Mt. Rainier to Mt. Jefferson, with an emphasis on the area between Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood....CCA will utilize GIS to collect, analyze and display data in support of our Ecosystem Status Report for the Central Cascades. The goal is to produce a comprehensive draft report that gives a detailed picture of the current condition of ecosystems, the plants and animals that inhabit them and the ecosystem services " see Where We Live for maps coming soon.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Md e98 c99 . (162 Prince George Street, Annapolis, MD 21401 tel:410/268-8816 fax:410/269-0481 email:chesapeake@cbf.org GIS contact: Michael Lester, Land Planner, email:mlester@savethebay.cbf.org) GIS STATUS: "The Lands Program of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) received three grants of ESRI software in 1998 for nominal or no cost. The software was essential for the success of the Lands-at-Risk mapping project. We have parlayed the grants into a functional GIS for our department, likely to survive the project that led to its development. The Lands Program started the Lands-at-Risk Project to combine the benefits of GIS with grassroots organizing. Land-use is both a visual phenomenon and a local process. The task was to better educate citizens about the meaning of land-use to their lives, and help them take action to reform it. We mass-produced a map for each rural community in the project under pressure from growth -- two each in Maryland and Virginia. The map clearly shows the pattern of future development, and its impact on farmland, forests and wetlands. We hired a community organizer for each state to help leaders in each community find ways to put pressure on local government for better development practices. The maps are done and the communities are organizing in Maryland and Virginia. Now we are preparing our Pennsylvania project....We helped another conservation group, Washington Parks and People (WPP), make the best use of GIS based on our own experience. We helped WPP hire a mapper and equip itself for in-house GIS. The Lands Program is well-situated to help other small non-profits determine whether GIS is right for them, Local land trusts who could use GIS to identify parcels suitable for conservation easements. They are wary of GIS for now, however because of the high cost and their modest budgets....The essential problem of GIS for conservation non-profits is why and when to take the plunge. To make effective use of it, the organization must have a clearly defined project for which to use it. But to build in-house GIS based on one project is costly, especially in an organization like CBF where small departments like ours seek most of their funding independently of each other. Thus, many projects that could use GIS shy away from its high, up-front costs. CBF might have gone after GIS organization-wide, but would likely have fallen in the other trap: good capacity with unclear need. I suspect many organizations that have GIS just to have it end up discarding it because they don't plan what they want it to do beforehand." . .SEARCH .

Chicago Wilderness . (Debby Moskovits, Field Museum 312-922-9410 ext.699; fax 312-922-1683; E-mail: moskovit@fmppr.fmnh.org . GIS Contact: Tim Sullivan, Brookfield Zoo, @ bzconbio@ix.netcom.com.) . "is the globally significant concentration of rare Midwest natural communities - the grasslands, woodlands, streams and wetlands - that survive in the Chicago metropolitan region. It encompasses more than 200,000 acres of protected natural lands, including tallgrass prairies and some of the finest open oak woodlands in the Midwest."..Geographic Information Systems : The GIS work being done for Chicago Wilderness involves technology, people, and data from Chicago Wilderness organizations. These organizations are using GIS for the restoration, protection, and management of the natural resources (natural lands, plants, and animals) in the Chicago Wilderness area.... See their extensive Project List ..

ClearWater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. Pa c98 . (PO Box 163 State College, PA 16804 tel:(814) 237 0400 mailto:clearh2o@vicon.net . Ms. Kristen Saacke Blunk, Executive Director ) "The ClearWater Conservancy was founded in 1980 when a group of local citizens organized to work proactively with local government and developers to influence how inevitable growth could best avoid environmentally sensitive sites. From this humble beginning, ClearWater has grown to a countywide organization that positively influences planning decisions based upon sound conservation principles. In addition, ClearWater serves as a land trust, providing conservation tools such as easements....ClearWater sponsored the original Spring Creek Corridor Study which, completed in 1995, sparked the wider community's interest and energy in watershed planning. The study ultimately resulted in bringing the 1996 Countryside International Stewardship Exchange to Spring Creek, in which a team of international experts provided recommendations to the Community on how to proceed in watershed protection/management. "

Colorado Environmental Coalition, Denver CO c96 . ( 1536 Wynkoop St #5C, Denver CO 80202. Phone: 303-534-7066 fax 303-534-7063 Executive Director: Elise Jones, mailto:elise@cecenviro.org) "Colorado Environmental Coalition is a grassroots, citizen’s group committed to protecting Colorado’s lands. This coalition of individuals and organizations believes that too much of Colorado’s wild lands have already been lost to development, road building, mining, clear-cutting, and grazing. Simply put: What’s Wild Should Stay Wild! " Must see: Citizen's Wilderness Proposal: Colorado Wilderness Map of 1999 . "The Citizen's Wilderness Proposal Wilderness designation of the lands contained in this proposal will complete a Congressional goal established in 1976 -- namely, the extension of the National Wilderness Preservation System to lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). "

Colorado's Decision Support Systems - (Colorado Dept of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources, 1313 Sherman Street, Room 818 Denver, CO 80203 Attn: Ray Bennett . mailto:cdss@state.co.us) "CRDSS is a data-centered system integrating several models which will help water users and water managers make more informed decisions." . CDSS Products include CDSS GIS Data and Supporting Software : a variety of hydrological and climatological data available for download as ESRI shapefile.

CommEn Space, Wa e98 . (1305 4th Ave. #303 Seattle WA 98101 tel:206-749-0112 email:info@commenspace.org GIS contact: Chris Davis, Eugene Martin ) "CommEn Space is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable mapping and geographic information technologies to environmental and community organizations in the Pacific Northwest...We serve as both a community education resource and a research lab that supports the institutional goals of client and partner organizations. We use GIS to assist groups in our network of partners to address their spatial analysis problems. In furthering this goal, CommEn Space will develop, maintain and distribute data resources of use to the environmental community. When required, spatial analysis and visualization will be supported by the development of software tools. " GIS PROJECTS: Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center We have been working with the Brainerd Foundation to construct a GIS of their Environmental Learning Center. This includes tracking changes in land cover and land use, and developing a "viewshed" for the property on Bainbridge Island." Don't MIss their Interactive IMS Map of the site:"Welcome to the Environmental Learning Center's Interactive Site Map! Clicking on the 'Launch' button below will open a new window that displays a schematic map of the ELC Site on Bainbridge Island. Clicking anywhere on the map will display an aerial photograph of that location." . . . Strait of Juan de Fuca Oil Spill Study Marking the 10th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez tragedy in Prince William Sound, we collaborated with People for Puget Sound to develop an application illustrating the potential effects of an oil spill in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. . Student Conservation Association's EarthWork Northwest Every year the Student Conservation Association has an Earth Work Day. This year they used our services to create a map showing all the sites where they had volunteers doing restoration work. . Bellevue Community College Student Mapping Project: As the Community College was going through major administrative changes, administrators wanted to know where students were living in relation to the school. We worked with them to see how these changes affected their student body. . City of Seattle Urban Watershed Characterization: This was a project to map the major landscape features in the Seattle area and identify key factors such as non-point pollution which impact the watershed. Rapid Hazard Assessment for Critical Habitats in the Puget Sound Basin Working with The Nature Conservancy, we helped them to locate hazardous sites in the Puget Sound region and conduct watershed analyses to track the flow and direction of runoff.. Don't miss their Excellent MAP & ANALYSIS GALLERY .see: Data Download Page . Free ArcView Software Tools page .

Conservation Fund, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill NC c96 . (The Conservation Fund, North Carolina Office, P.O. Box 271, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 . Phone: (919) 967-2223 Fax: (919) 967-9702 Contact: Will Allen, GIS Director. mailto:will@tcf.arcana.com) . The Conservation Fund seeks sustainable conservation solutions for the 21st century, emphasizing the integration of economic and environmental goals. Through real estate transactions, demonstration projects, education, and community-based activities, the Fund seeks innovative long-term measures to conserve land and water....The Conservation Fund and its partners have protected more than 1.4 million acres of the nations natural and cultural heritage." GIS PROJECTS: "As a decision support tool, GIS integrates conservation science and human values through interactive, real time comparisons of alternative land use scenarios in order to develop consensus-based planning solutions. Using this powerful GIS technology, coupled with the Fund's technical expertise - sustainable community development, economic capacity building and land use planning - The Conservation Fund supports efforts of urban and rural communities to protect their cultural, historic, and natural resources through community-driven efforts such as the following: Albemarle-Pamlico Bioregional Greenway Plan, Chattooga Watershed Conservation Plan, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Roanoke River Greenway Project. ...In March 1996, The Conservation Fund received a grant from the Conservation Technology Support Program (CTSP) from Hewlett-Packard (HP), Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), and the Smithsonian's Conservation Research Center (CRC). The Fund received an HP UNIX Workstation and DesignJet plotter, ESRI's ArcInfo and ArcView software, and training from HP in UNIX system administration, ESRI in using ArcInfo and ArcView, and CRC in conservation applications of GIS. This GIS system, located in the Fund's Research Triangle, NC office, will greatly enhance the Fund's ability to provide conservation GIS technical assistance to the corporate, government, academic, and nonprofit sectors for years to come. In addition, the Fund has received a commitment from ESRI to donate GIS software to the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, WV. ESRI's donation will enhance the NCTC's conservation GIS training program allow the Fund to collaboratively develop conservation GIS curriculum for the nation's land and water conservation professionals.

ConservationGIS.com - A Resource for Conservation GIS Professionals . (The Conservation Fund, North Carolina Office, P.O. Box 271, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 . Phone: (919) 967-2223 Fax: (919) 967-9702 Contact: Will Allen, GIS Director. mailto:will@tcf.arcana.com) "dedicated to providing you with relevant, timely information on the use of geographic information systems (GIS) mapping tools for the conservation community." Check out: GIS Strategic Planning . GIS User Needs Assessment . ArcView Map Making Tricks

Conservation International, Wash DC e91 . (2501 M Street, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20037 1-202-429-5660 GIS contact: John Musinsky tel: 1-202-429-5660 email - mailto:j.musinsky@conservation.org) "Conservation International promotes biodiversity conservation in rain forests and other endangered ecosystems worldwide." Their long history with spatial analysis tools is evident in their extensive list of Information and Decision Support Tools . "The Information Distribution Program expands on CI's eight years of work compiling and analyzing data for conservation research and planning; our efforts to develop appropriate decision support tools and provide training to analyze data; and our work to get the information and tools into the hands of researchers and conservationists in the field. " .Condor: is CD-ROM containing a GIS-based planning tool that permits the integration of biodiversity, social, and economic variables in infrastructure project planning for the Andean region of South America. . . ..CISIG is a computer tool that integrates and displays maps showing biological, social, and economic data for conservation analysis. Capacity-Building in Science and Technology . "One of the primary objectives of the Conservation Planning department is enhancing technical capacity of conservation groups in the developing world. ...using a "tool-box" approach of appropriate technologies and analytical methodologies" including GIS. . Remote Sensing for Regional Scale Monitoring: is a CI methodology for using satellite imagery and aerial photography and videography to map and monitor natural resources. . . The CI-UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Partnership describes a large number of GIS-based collaborative planning workshops operated by CI around the globe. . CI's Conservation Priority-Setting Workshops are a model for collaborative Regional Conservation GIS Analysis, completed in 14 countries and regions worldwide, see the example MAP . "CI pioneered the use of Conservation Priority Setting Workshops (CPWs) to build consensus and focus limited resources on biodiversity conservation. These workshops have looked at different geographical units, including large ecosystems encompassing several nations (biomes, e.g. Amazonia), regional subsets of ecosystems (e.g. the northeastern Atlantic Forest region in Brazil), and discrete countries (e.g. Papua New Guinea). The method begins with a thorough process of pulling together the available biological and socio-economical data, cartographic information and satellite imagery. This information is then reviewed and refined in a workshop format, involving the leading experts on that particular region. " see also the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science . .

CONSGIS Mailing List WWW Gateway . Biological Conservation and GIS ListServer and Discussion Group Archives..

Corvallis Environmental Center, Or, c98 . (POB 2189 Corvallis OR 97330 USA Tel: 541-753-9211 Fax: 541-753-4507 E-mail: ecenter@peak.org . Director:Nancy Sieglitz . Gis Contact: Christopher Beatty ) "The Corvallis Environmental Center was founded in 1994 and is a local center for environmental education and awareness...In late 1996, we embarked on a program to raise awareness about the status of the Willamette River in order to motivate clean-up and restoration of this precious resource...The primary output of the first phase of the project was the Willamette Water Quality Map. This tool consolidates a large amount of existing information about the watershed. The map and the data behind it represent the kernel upon which our GIS system would be started. We have invested heavily in the past year in the "people" and "data" portions of the GIS system described in the tutorial. In lieu of actual GIS tools, we downloaded USGS data for the Willamette and created the map using Freehand. The Water Quality Map has been well-received as a teaching and awareness tool throughout the valley (copies are available if there is interest). A primary conclusion from studies conducted to date is that agricultural runoff is the number one problem in this basin. A GIS system would be used to help understand the consequences of various agricultural practices and help devise policy to minimize the impact on the environment. " see also Green Community Data Project: "The goal is the development of a region-wide ecological dat base to assist in local park and land use management."

Creative Environmental Conservation, Seaside CA cm96 . (100 Campus Center, Seaside, CA, 93955, USA, tel 408-582-3685 fax 408-582-3691 email watershed@monterey.edu)

Defenders of Wildlife Pacific Northwest Office, Lake Oswego OR e96 . (Defenders of Wildlife-West Coast Office 1637 Laurel St. Lake Oswego, OR 97034 (503) 697-3222, defender@teleport.com) . "Welcome to NatureMapping, a wildlife education project involving Oregon citizens of all ages in collecting data on amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. If you have a love of nature, if you enjoy observing and identifying wildlife, and if you want to contribute useful information to our collective knowledge of Oregon‘s wildlife, then NatureMapping is for you... NatureMapping is about being proactive. The reports you submit provide valuable information on the distribution of Oregon's wildlife. Alone, your data may or may not be especially useful. But when combined with data collected by other NatureMappers, your collective data can be very useful to students, land use planners, and resource managers, to name just a few."

Defenders of Wildlife (1101 14th Street NW #1400, Washington, D.C. 20005 tel:202-682-9400 webmaster@defenders.org) Their On-Line Library lists many useful publications: Dont miss their excellent report: Saving Biodiversity: A Status Report on State Laws, Policies and Programs Including a State by State review of Biodiversity GIS and data programs: "We believe this report makes two significant advances on behalf of environmental law and policy. First, it continues the effort of establishing biodiversity conservation as a central indicator of overall environmental protection by creating a matrix of key biodiversity legal components. Second, for the first time ever, this report compiles the extremely varied laws and programs of the 50 states to help government officials and non-government advocates better protect biodiversity. " . see also: The Citizen's Wildlife Refuge Planning Handbook Charting the Future of Conservation on the National Wildlife Refuge Near You "The Citizen's Wildlife Refuge Planning Handbook is designed to guide you through the important role you can play in helping your local refuge plan for the future. The ground-breaking National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-57, USC668dd) requires all refuges to create 15-year comprehensive conservation plans (CCPs) for refuge management and to involve the public in the planning process. " Their Biodiversity Center publishes: The Case for a Constitutional Amendment for Biodiversity .

Dian Fossey Mountain Gorilla Protection, New Brunswick, NJ c96 . (Anthropology Dept, Rutgers University, Douglas Campus, Ruth Adams B, New Brunswick, NJ, 08903-0270, 908-932-9351, fax 404-627-7514 email STEKLIS@GANDALF.RUTGERS.EDU) . The Mountain Gorilla Protection Project is a collaboration between H. Dieter Steklis of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (D.F.G.F.) and Dr. Scott Madry from the Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis located in Rutgers University. The purpose of this project is to provide a digitized database of the mountain gorilla habitat. The database will include layers of information that contain vegetation patterns, gorilla ranging and human use of gorilla habitat. Don't miss the Extensive Collection of maps, including 3-D perspectives, Vegetation maps, Watersheds, and flyovers videos. GIS NEWS: "We have created a Poaching Activity layer in our GIS that now contains a few months of poaching activity. However, use of GPS units had to be suspended, so that final analysis of poaching "hot spots" will depend on our ability to collect additional GPS points or the use of accurate grid maps (see below). Since GPS units cannot currently be used in the Virungas we will begin to systematically assess the impact of poaching activity on gorilla ranging behavior through use of 100m grid maps (superimposed on our GIS Virunga topo map). Our anti-poaching rangers will collect daily data on location (within a 100m grid) of each of 3 habituated gorilla groups and sample for poaching signs (e.g., snares, poachers' footprints) the area traveled by each group since leaving their previous night nests."

The Earth Conservancy, Pa e98 . (101 South Main Street, Ashley, PA 18706. Telephone: (570) 823-3445. Gis Contact: Mark Packard GIS Analyst/ Data Base Manager tel:(717)-823-3445 email:packard@intergrafix.net . Web site provided by Kenneth M. Klemow, Ph.D., Biology Department, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766. (570) 408-4758, kklemow@wilkes1.wilkes.edu.) "The Earth Conservancy is a non-profit organization initiated in 1993, and now based in Ashley, PA. One mission of EC is to restore mine-damaged land in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania.GIS STATUS: "Earth Conservancy is a n.p.o. that has become the owner/custodian of 17,000 acres of abandoned strip-mined coal lands in northeastern PA through government and local organizational grants. Our first task is simply to understand what and where the land actually (legally) lies. The GIS lab has been instrumental in keeping track of what state all of the parcels are in and what type of attributes each of the parcels have. We basically have a rough idea and are using GPS and surveying techniques to fill in literal legal boundaries. We have also been able to support other activities that occur on a a day-to-day basis within Earth Conservancy. Since we have received and installed the above mentioned software, we have been able to expand our capabilities considerably. GIS projects to date have accompanied organization projects including engineering work as well as simply providing presentation materials. One of the new projects that we have recently under taken is to scan 1,200 linen mining maps and to provide them to the Anthracite Branch of the Office of Surface Mining via CD as well as retain a copy for our own archives. Once scanned, we can use the mining maps in the GIS by geo-referencing them and further processing them in ArcScan. These maps contain valuable survey and coal content information, both above and below ground, and make a valuable back drop on which to perform current day GIS projects. This allows us to combine 100 year old maps with current day electronic coverages. "

Earth Design Consultants, Corvallis OR e94 ..(800 NW Starker Suite 31, Corvallis, OR, 97330, tel: 541-757-7896 fax: 541-757-7991 email pam@earthdesign.com Contact: Jim Strittholt).."Earth Design Consultants, Inc. (EDC) was established in 1994 and is dedicated to providing a wide range of technical services to government agencies, profit and non-profit organizations and individuals interested in evaluating natural environments and planning for ecologically sustainable ecosystems. By integrating principles of landscape ecology and conservation biology with computer mapping technologies (geographic information systems --- GIS and remote sensing), EDC is committed to providing a unique blend of scientific expertise and computer mapping skills to solve complex environmental problems. Projects: Enduring Features of Northern Rockies, GIS-based Water Quality Study of Tillamook Bay (Feb 1997), Kalamath-Siskiyou Conservation Planning, The Wildlands Project Mapping, The Use of Adult Aquatic Insects as a Wetland Characterization Tool (Oregon, Ohio &Texas), Earthwatch (Big Bend National Park Research Project)

Earthspan, Glen Arm MD cs97 . (c/o War & Peace Foundation: 32 Union Sq. East #418, New York, N.Y. 10003 Tel. (212) 777 6626 . Fax (212) 777 2552 .... E-mail: warpeace@interport.net Website: http://users.rcn.com/warpeace/ ) "A Global C-Span of the United Nations"

East West Center, Honolulu , HI e94 . (1601 East-West Road Honolulu, HI 96848-1601, Telephone: 808-944-7111 , Fax: 808-944-7376 , email: ewcinfo@ewc.hawaii.edu ) "The East-West Center, a national education and research institution, is a major resource of knowledge and information about Asia and the Pacific -- the world's most populous and economically dynamic region. Their Environment group does GIS work, see...Working Paper : Mapping Customary Lands in East Kalimantan, Indonesia: A Tool for Forest Management . "This project demonstrated a method for mapping customary land use systems using oral histories, sketch maps, and GPS and GIS methodologies"....Working Paper : Land Use and Landscape Dynamics in Northern Thailand: Assessing Change in Three Upland Watersheds Since 1954 .

The Ecology Center, Missoula MT e91 c95 . (801 Sherwood Street, Suite B Missoula, MT 59802 phone: 406-728-5733 fax: 406-728-9432, email: ecocenter@wildrockies.org Contact: Tim Bechtold) The Ecology Center is a non-profit, public-interest conservation organization. Our staff works to protect biological diversity and ecosystem integrity, primarily in the Wild Rockies Bioregion (including Montana, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming, British Columbia, Alberta, Oregon, and Washington). We also work to pressure agencies to conform to environmental legislation, and to increase citizen participation in public lands management.... GIS Projects: ...TECI is the site of all the GIS analyses for the Bozeman-based Roads Scholar Project(RSP). ... As in previous years, in 1995 TECI managed the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act database for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. ... Mike Bader of AWR and TECI's Timothy Bechtold prepared a report in December of 1995, published as AWR Special Report #8, The Conservation Biology Alternative for Grizzly Bear Recovery in the Salmon-Selway Region. ...Supported by a grant from the Town Creek Foundation, TECI was able to assist two graduate students to prepare localized reserve designs for areas in the High Plains ecosystem. ...TECI also worked with the Rocky Mountain Environmental Coalition, of Calgary, Alberta, to help create analyses of the effects of roads and oil and gas pipelines on fragmentation of habitat of the Rocky Mountain front in southern Alberta.... With funding from the Harder Foundation, TECI created preliminary habitat effectiveness analyses for grizzly bears in the Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear Recovery Area and parts of the adjacent Idaho Panhandle National Forest..."With funding support from USAID, through ISAR, TECI is collaborating with the Wildlife Foundation, of Khabarovsk, in the Russian Far East, to create a database of the protected areas of the Amurskaya oblast in far eastern Siberia.... TECI also completed GIS work for many conservation organizations in the region in 1995, including the Swan View Coalition, the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Coalition, the Rock Creek Trust, and the Road Removal Implementation Project." see: Analysis of Road Densities paper below .

Ecotrust, Portland, OR e92 . (Ecotrust, Suite 490 (Information Services), 1200 NW Naito Pkwy., Portland, OR 97209 Tel: 503/226-8108 Fax: 503/226-8110 Email: info@ecotrust.org contact Ed Backus, GIS email: mapdesk@ecotrust.org . Prior names: Pacific GIS, Interrain Pacific) "The Map Desk extends Ecotrust's extensive geographic information system and mapping capabilities at reasonable rates for both short-term projects and long-term organizational support....Ecotrust is committed to developing new strategies for conservation by helping local communities build new economies based on protecting their environment...Our strategy is to act as catalyst and broker to promote conservation-based development in the coastal temperate rain forests of North America...Fourteen principles of the conservation economy guide our work in meeting three bottom lines - environmental, social, and economic - through practical work in communities"....Projects: Ecotrust, Ecotrust Canada, Interrain Pacific, Nanakila Institute, ShoreTrust Trading Group, Willapa Alliance. Their book The Rain Forests of Home: Profile of a North American Bioregion, is one of the finest examples of a conservation atlas ever done. Ecotrust makes some truly stunning poster maps, see/order them at: The Rain Forests of Home and Coastal Temperate Rain Forest . Don't miss their excellent Conservation GIS/Mapping CD-ROM project sites: Willapa Watershed Information System CD-ROM . Applegate Watershed GIS CD-ROM . Glacier Bay Ecosystem Geographic Information System CD-ROM . . Conservation GIS Starter Kit CD/Book (see main ECP page)

Environmental Advocates, Iowa City IA cm97 . ( Steve Hendrix, Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, 312 Chemistry-Botany, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 tel: 319-335-1065 fax: -335-3620 email: mailto:stephen-hendrix@uiowa.edu or shendrix@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu) "The broad research interests in our laboratory center around conservation biology and restoration ecology at the population and community levels of organization. At the population level, we are concentrating on the effects of habitat fragmentation on reproduction of prairie forbs (non-grass-like flowering plants). "

Environmental Defense Fund, NY NY e94 . (257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010, 1-800-684-3322) The Environmental Defense Fund is people: scientists, economists, attorneys, and others who work in teams to find solutions to environmental problems....Endangered Species Found Clustered in "Hot Spots". also: A new action-oriented guide for local leaders, residents and businesses, the Environmental Sustainability Kit, provides tools for creating sustainable communities. See also: Scorecard Project, below.

Environmental Defense Fund Scorecard (Scorecard Architect and Project Manager: Dr. Bill Pease Environmental Defense Fund, 5655 College Ave, Oakland CA, 94618 . tel: 510-658-8008 fax:510-658-0630 email: mailto:Bill_Pease@edf.org) Scorecard is an online interactive ArcView/Java/Oracle driven application created by Karl Goldstein, Steve Goldman and Peter Black, to let anyone instantly see maps of pollution, toxic releases and other environmental problems in their immediate neighborhood. "Scorecard’s most popular feature is its "type in your zip code" approach to finding local information about local environmental conditions and problems. The site’s interactive maps, which let you click down to a local neighborhood in a second or two, are another popular pathway. Our goal is to make the local environment as easy to check on as the local weather."

Environmental Resource Center / Sawtooth Science Institute . (P.O. Box 2167, Sun Valley, Idaho 83353. Telephone/Fax: (208) 788 - 9686. Contact: Christine Gertschen, Director , E-mail:cgertsch@micron.net ) "The Sawtooth Science Institute, an educational outreach center of the Idaho Museum of Natural History and Idaho State University, has offered more than 100 environmental study and natural history workshops to more than 1300 Idaho teachers since its inception in 1990....Under the direction of Ms. Gertschen, the Institute has been at work on the development of a GIS project for Idaho entitled "NatureMapping", modeled on a successful program in Washington state supported by the Gap Analysis project of Washington and Washington Fish and Wildlife Service and which has become a national program....There is a strong need for programs which integrate technology into the K-12 core curriculum. GIS offers so many opportunities for conservation science but also for vocational advancement that public education needs to begin to train teachers in GIS....The rural conservation education center we propose is a state-of-the-art learning facility that will galvanize the efforts of many partners working in education and the environment to place the tools, information and critical thinking skills about the delicate ecology of the bioregion into the hands of the citizens of south-central Idaho. "

Environmental Science & Policy Institute, Lexington , MA e94 .(6 Valley Road, Lexington, Massachusetts, 02173 Contact: Justin Lancaster ) "ESPI is a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation committed to merging public health studies and environmental science, employing state-of-the-art information technologies...To explore how we might manage environmental resources and mitigate impacts of global and regional change, given best community education and integrated management practices, the Environmental Science and Policy Institute (ESPI) initiated the North East Co-Laboratory (NECOLAB) in 1993, the IM3 Research Project in 1994, and the NECOLAB Environmental Education Testbed (NEET) Project in 1995.

Florida Internet Center for Understanding Sustainability FICUS Fl e97 . (Florida Center for Community Design and Research, 3702 Spectrum Boulevard, Suite 180 Tampa, FL 33612 Phone: (813) 974-4042 Contact:Kyle N. Campbell email:campbell@sacd.arch.usf.edu) "The mission of FICUS is to produce a high quality multimedia educational resource and communication forum that assists citizens in the creation of a more sustainable Florida. " GIS NEWS: "FICUS serves an expanding network of over 20 non-profit organizations dedicated to a sustainable vision for the state of Florida. We are currently producing a geographic navigator for the web site that will allow users to navigate the state's bioregions and find geographic information on the location of learning centers, volunteer opportunities, environmental resources, and key ecosystems. In addition, we will use the software to publish ArcInfo and ArcView maps for our sustainable community masterplans on the internet and CD-ROM. This capability will allow more citizens to participate in our community design process." Don't miss: Hillsborough County Lake Atlas, online interactive GIS . SEARCH .

Florida Trail Association, Inc. Fl, c98 . (P.O. Box 13708, Gainesville, FL 32604 tel:1-800-343-1882 ) "The Florida Trail Association (FTA) is a not-for-profit, volunteer organization of approximately 6,000 members who are dedicated to the construction, maintenance and enjoyment of over 1,000 miles of hiking trails throughout Florida....Using this latest geographic information system technology (ESRI ArcInfo) and the most up-to-date information available, the GIS trail maps will replace the less-detailed and more difficult to update maps of the current Hiking Guides. Complimenting this effort, the University of Florida has developed GIS maps for the National Forests in Florida depicting the twenty-mile wide planning corridor identified in the Comprehensive Plan for the Florida National Scenic Trail to aid in identifying potential trail routes where their are gaps. Through this partnership, the FTA hopes to incorporate existing digital land parcel and ownership data into the GIS and thus eliminate a great deal of courthouse research. The FTA also plans to work with the University of Florida to fine tune their trails GIS modeling effort so to identify potential Florida Trail linkages. "

Forest Concerns of the Upper Skagit (FOCUS), Wa . (c/o Cascadian Farm, Inc. 719 Metcalf Street, Sedro Woolley, WA 98284 or P.O. Box 93, Rockport, WA 98283 ) "FOCUS is a non-profit (501(c)(3)) environmental organization founded in 1988 in response to widespread over-harvesting of corporate forests in the Upper Skagit watershed. We have recently shifted our emphasis away from single-issue activism towards building capacity for sustainable development within our community, which includes the rural towns of Concrete, Rockport, Marblemount, Newhalem and Diablo (about 2500 residences). We believe that we can learn as a community how to live within the ecological limits of our valley, while still providing economic opportunities for ourselves and future generations...The basis for sustainable resource management is understanding the characteristics of a watershed, evaluating the existing conditions of the resource base, and then identifying the key components necessary to maintain and restore ecological functions of the system over time. This is what we mean by "ecosystem-based planning", and we intend to use GIS mapping and analysis as a primary tool to achieve this end. Using GIS, we will identify and map ecologically, geologically and culturally sensitive areas in the context of the whole watershed. This information will then be used to inform the community about how best to protect or restore critical resources, while at the same time providing for ongoing, sustainable economic opportunities. A community-generated plan does not carry regulatory clout, or control management decisions on corporate and public forest land. However, a technically defensible landscape level analysis is difficult for government and industry to disregard since they have not conducted a similar level of analysis. In addition, by presenting an alternative option to the status quo, a powerful tool is provided to the community to advocate for its own informed vision of the future. At the same time, it builds capacity within the community to work together to plan for and anticipate change rather than react to it. A community generated ecosystem-based plan provides the framework for cooperative management, private/public partnerships, and creates incentives for alternative practices. "

Forest Guardians, Santa Fe NM c96 (Forest Guardians 1413 Second St., Suite 1 Santa Fe, NM 87505 505-988-9126 swwild@fguardians.org) "Forest Guardians is leading the fight to protect and restore the forests, rivers, grasslands and wilderness of the Southwest.Years of grassroots efforts to map forests, riparian zones, wildlife habitat, and vegetation communities in the Southwest, have resulted in an extensive collection of both hardcopy and digital layers at various scales. This information has been extremely valuable to activists and organizations working to stop destructive practices and develop a vision of land management that is both long range and science-based. Much of this map information will be available either as an on-line resource or through Forest Guardians, for a reasonable fee...Forest Guardians is the first conservation group to lease state land for protection and restoration - instead of livestock grazing. An antiquated system of preferential rights has allowed ranching interests to maintain a stranglehold on state lands - until this year. This is a case where environmentalists are using innovative, market-based solutions to protect and restore public lands." Check out their GIS contributions to the Southern Rockies State of the Ecosystem Report . see also: Participating in Livestock Grazing Decisions on the National Forests: A Citizen Handbook (pdf download).

Gaia Institute / Bronx Council for Environmental Quality , Ny c99 . (99 Bay Street, 440 City Island Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10464 USA tel:718 885-1906 tel:718 885-0882 temail:gaiainst@aol.com Gis contact: Dr. Julie or Paul Mankiewicz ) "BCEQ has long fought for the protection of the New York City Watershed instead of the siting of a huge and expensive filtration plant in the north central Bronx. At the same time, the Gaia Institute has developed methods and approaches for conserving, enhancing and reconstructing the natural systems within the watershed to increase filtration (AKA: biogeochemical filtration). " GIS PLAN: "In tandem with a grant that the BCEQ has obtained from the USEPA, the organization hopes to map community wells located with the Croton Watershed System. The Croton System is part of the watershed that provides drinking water for the City of New York...For a different dimension of watershed work, Gaia Institute has received funding from the US EPA to investigate how wetland and upland soil buffers can be constructed and enhanced to protect receiving waters of the Great Swamp in Dutchess and Putnam Counties. The aim is to identify specific 'short circuits' where stormwater flows directly from roadway, parking lot, or other infrastructure directly into the waters of the Great Swamp, and to design water holding systems, from terraces to wetlands, wet meadows, and forest soils. "

Galveston Bay Foundation e97. (17324-A Highway 3, Webster, TX, 77598-4133, tel: (281) 332-3381, fax: (281) 332-3153, email: gbf@electrotex.com contact: Katherine Bruce, Habitat Plan Coordinator . "The mission of the Galveston Bay Foundation is to preserve and enhance the Bay for its multiple uses. To accomplish this mission the Foundation has targeted four goals: - Education: Provide resources and guidance for education projects aimed at developing a constituency for the Bay, from schoolchildren to public officials. - Conservation: Develop projects aimed at preserving/enhancing the natural resources of the Bay system. - Research: Support the allocation of public and private resources for research into the multiple resources of the Bay system and ultimately establish a research endowment. - Advocacy: Encourage and actively seek solutions to conflicts among the diverse users of the Bay. Wise, prudent and careful utilization of administrative and legal proceedings when required and approved by a 2/3 majority of the Executive Board present and voting. Committees established by the Trustees of the Foundation will develop specific objectives designed to meet these goals of the Foundation, including the required fundraising efforts. The Foundation will also seek appropriate levels of funding and staff for an administrative office to provide the necessary support and coordination of these efforts." the Habitat Conservation Blueprint is built from 37 GIS data layers to help coordinate communities with the ultimate goal of restoring 29,000 acres of Galveston Bay habitat by the year 2010.

Georgia Forest Watch, Atlanta, GA c95 . (GEORGIA FORESTWATCH 4 River Street Suite C Ellijay, GA 30540 tel:706-635-8733 tel:706-635-TREE, 706-636-1371 email: mailto:gfw@mindspring.com President: Dr. Robert Kibler) . Georgia Forest Watch is a forest watchdog group protecting biodiversity, soil & water quality, and monitoring compliance in the national forests of Georgia..see..Map of National Forests in the Southeast . The Forest Plan Revision Update section provides news and a series of maps on their ongoing efforts to ensure that the desires of local communities and conservationists are included in the new plans . MAPS-- Oconee, Chattahoochee, and Armuchee National Forests . NATURE, HUNTING AND LIFE by Lamar Marshall explores the ecological benefits and personal values of hunting from a native American perspective. Wild Watch is a clickable map of areas of conservation crises and issues in Georgia needing immediate citizen action . Don't miss their Sensational Tabloid Section!!! .

Great Swamp Watershed Association, New Vernon NJ c96 . (P.O. Box 300 New Vernon, NJ 07976 tel:201-966-1900 email: greatswamp.org contact Julia Sommers) . "The Great Swamp Watershed Association is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the protection of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness Area and its surrounds. The watershed is a 55 square mile region in Morris and Somerset Counties of the state of New Jersey, and includes portions of 10 different towns" See their Science & Technology reports . The GSWA Model Stormwater Ordinance is now on-line. . A Green Plan for New Jersey is now on-line as a .txt or .doc download: "Twenty diverse environmental organizations -- including the GSWA -- united to develop a plan for New Jersey's environmental future and a way to measure the government's success in meeting public expectations." . Hiking Map to the refuge . Stuart Udall Writes About Open Space Too! . Online Map of the Great Swamp Area . The Great Swamp Watershed Management Plan with extensive graphics is now online . Don't Miss the excellent online book: The Benefits of Open Space by Len Hamilton .

Greater Ecosystem Alliance, Bellingham , WA e94 . (Mitch Friedman, Executive Director Greater Ecosystem Alliance POB 2813 Bellingham Washington 98227 fax (206)671-8429 e-mail: gea@igc.apc.org or Contact Brian Vincent bvincent@pacificrim.net ) "The Greater Ecosystem Alliance is dedicated to protecting the wildness and diversity of transboundary areas of British Columbia and the Northwest states. GEA combines science and advocacy, and focuses on landscape scales." Their quarterly newsletter, Northwest Conservation: news and priorities, is posted on Econet at the gea.news conference . see:Fire & Forest Management: Myth & Reality .by Evan Frost (From Columbiana: Ecology and Culture in the Pacific Northwest, Chesaw Route, Box 83) "Wildfires burned across nearly 3 million acres of the West during summer 1994, including over 200,000 acres in eastern Washington. But just as the season's forest fires died down, the debate over fire policy and salvage logging ignited. Congress recently passed bills that would exempt salvage logging from existing environmental laws..." check out their video BIODIVERSITY: The Variety of Life . see the High Country News 10-3-94 short article about GEA: "Hikers can bear grizzlies" .

Green Mountain Forest Watch, Brattleboro VT c96 . (48 Elliot St. Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802) 257-4878 contact: Mathew Jacobson email:grnmt@sover.net) Green Mountain Forest Watch is the only conservation organization that continuously focuses on and involves the public in the management of public lands in Vermont. see WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS: "The Brattleboro based conservation organization Green Mountain Forest Watch is challenging what it calls 3rampant and illegally clearcutting by the US Forest Service of in areas of the Green Mountain National Forest set aside in the Forest Plan to protect their unique remote character."

Headwaters Environmental Center, Ashland OR c95 . (PO Box 729 Ashland, OR, tel 541-482-4459 fax: 541-482-7282 email: headwtrs@mind.net ) Headwaters is a primary protector of the 3 million acres of public forests in southwest Oregon... with the crucial assistance, of course, of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project in Takilma, Umpqua Watersheds in Roseburg, and other local groups such as Friends of Elk River, Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, Rogue Group Sierra Club, and more....The largest area of Late-Successional Reserves was established to protect Roadless Areas and other lands connecting the Wilderness Areas of the Siskiyou National Forest, due to our work describing this area, and the incredible slide show tours of Siskiyou Project's Lou Gold. Don't miss their new Map: "Siskiyou Crest Connects the Redwoods with the Cascades" . See their roadless areas work in the Kalmiopsis Wildlands Map and their Wildlands project page .

Heartwood, Elletsville, IN e94 . (PO Box 1424 Bloomington, IN 47402, Kevin Miller Heartwood 8801 N Bottom Road Ellettsville, IN 47429, Telephone: (812) 337-8898, email: inform@heartwood.org or E-mail: kmill@opndem.state.in.us) "Heartwood is an association of groups, individuals, and businesses dedicated to the health and well being of the native forest of the Central Hardwood region, and its interdependent plant, animal, and human communities" Check out their Clickable Map of current forest action alerts in the Southeast....Citizens' Guide to Protecting Your National Forest !. Their Forest Watch Page has tools for activists . GIS UPDATE: the Appalachian Restoration Campaign includes a series of GIS analyses and maps along the Wildlands Recovery model: " ARC hosted the Central Appalachian Ecological Integrity Conference in which conservationists and scientists exposed our environmental crises and established the need for a Central Appalachian Wilderness Preserve. Since then, we have held regional mapping meetings and have developed the ecological basis for large-scale protection of Appalachia. Specific accomplishments include: . -Producing the first map of recorded rare and endangered species for the Central Appalachian region. . -Completing the Central Appalachian Assessment, Part I: Ecological Criteria. (See Wild Earth 7(3) in press; Natural Areas News 2(1): 7) . -Supporting the Dogwood Alliance with GIS maps of chip mills, pulp mills, and oriented strand board factory locations. . . .Our current project identifies Priority Restoration Areas (PRAs) and landscape corridors in Central Appalachia as Part I of the Central Appalachian Assessment. This on-going project is part of our campaign to create a Central Appalachian Wilderness Preserve in which human activity is compatible with ecological recovery and health. In 1997, we began this unprecedented effort to identify large-scale restoration goals in the Central Appalachians based on new applications of state and federal data. . . . .Meanwhile, to enable conservation efforts on public and private lands, ARC offers Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping to Heartwood member groups in the Central Appalachians. Our campaign for a Central Appalachian Wilderness Preserve consists of two principal projects. The Central Appalachian Assessment defines ecological goals and political opportunities for a preserve; the Member Group Support project empowers these goals with tangible conservation projects within the Central Appalachian region. . . . . . Member Group Support . . -Survey forest protection organizations in the Central Appalachians to determine their needs for conservation information and mapping services. . . -Expand the Heartwood network in the Central Appalachians by at least 5 organizations. . . -Support on-going conservation programs with Geographical Information System (GIS) products for at least ten Heartwood member groups within the Central Appalachians. . . -Distribute GIS information through the World Wide Web. Appalachia needs a large-scale strategy to protect the health of the landscape and its inhabitants. Although immediate ecological threats to the region are real and intensifying, conservation of the Central Appalachians will continue to be scattered and defensive without long-term direction for restoration. Our project aims to create these goals and to empower organizations within the Central Appalachians towards this end. This project changes the debate over the future of Appalachia by offering a vision of something better. "

Heritage Trails Fund, Walnut Creek CA c96 . (1350 Castle Rock Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 Telephone: 510-937-7661 Fax: 510-943-7431 E-Mail: htrails@earthlink.net) "The Heritage Trails Fund, a nonprofit organization, was founded and incorporated by George Cardinet of Concord, California in 1982 for the purpose of securing and preserving our nation's beautiful trails and parks throughout the United States."

High Country Citizens Alliance, Crested Butte CO c97 .(P.O. Box 1066, Crested Butte, CO 81224-1066 (303)349-7104, fax:(970)349-0164 . tel:1-800-635-7820 Contact Gary Sprung email: hcca@csn.net) . "The mission of High Country Citizens'Alliance, active since 1977, is to protect, restore and enhance the natural ecosystems and quality of human life in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, in the Mountain West, and on Earth." dont miss their List of Accomplishments .

Hill Country Wild Tx e97 c98 . (P.O. Box 8270, Austin, Tx 78713-8270 tel:(512) 419-7590 GIS Contact: John Andrews tel:(512) 371-0146 j.andrews@mail.utexas.edu) "Hill Country Wild is a non-profit organization founded to preserve and restore the native species and evolutionary processes of the central Texas Hill Country. Our immediate goal is to design a regional wildlands restoration plan incorporating the principles and methodologies embraced by The Wildlands Project (i.e. map-based conservation planning based on core-corridor modeling). Implementation of this plan will require the education of local communities about the nature of our ecosystem and the importance of wild places, both for humans and non-humans..Hill Country Wild is assembling a geographic information system (GIS) of regional and large-scale datasets in effort to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the Hill Country landscape. With assistance from our GIS we are better able to identify appropriate areas for inclusion in the Central Texas wildlands reserve network based on landscape characteristics including vegetation, historic and contemporary distribution of vertebrate species, location of state parks, human population density, etc... " Online GIS Maps and Analyses Library . Maps include Land Cover/Vegetation, Critters, Physiography, Hydrography, Demography.

Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition Ny c99 . (900 Walt Whitman Road Melville, NY 11747 tel:(516) 547-1518 fax:(516) 547-1520 email:friends@hbcac.org GIS contact: Mrs. Mildred M. Galgano) "The Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition is a volunteer grassroots community breast cancer organization. Along with breast cancer groups across Long Island, we are dedicated to promoting and providing breast cancer awareness, education, advocacy, involvement and support. Announcement of their GIS Grant (by Jenna Kern-Rugile). "...In fact, the grant is the only one that the conservation technology organization awarded to a health-related non-profit, rather than an environmental group....Though not an environmental group per se, HBCAC is greatly involved in seeking out the environmental causes of breast cancer. "There are so many possible causes, from electromagnetic fields to pesticides to industrial emissions and more," says Mimi Galgano, an HBCAC director and volunteer who headed up the survey project. "Perhaps it's a combination of various exposures that is too much for the immune system to bear." see also Breast Cancer Study . see also SCGIS Newsletter 2 Article .

The Idaho Conservation Data Center (CDC) ( Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game, 600 South Walnut Box 25, Boise, Idaho 83707-0025. Bob Moseley Coordinator/Plant Ecologist email: bmoseley@idfg.state.id.us GIS contact: George Stephens email: gstephen@idfg.state.id.us ) "the central repository for information related to the state's rare plant and animal populations. (part of the TNC Natural Heritage Network"

International Snow Leopard Trust, Seattle, WA e90 . (4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Suite 325, Seattle, Washington 98103 USA (206) 632-2421 Fax (206) 632-3967 E.mail:islt@serv.net, Dr. Rodney Jackson, Conservation Director ) "The International Snow Leopard Trust (ISLT) is dedicated to the conservation of the endangered snow leopard and its mountain ecosystem through a balanced approach that considers the needs of the people and the environment"....don't miss their Snow Leopard Habitat Map .

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Des Moines , IA e95. . (444 Insurance Exchange Building 505 Fifth Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50309-2321, Phone: 515/288-1846 Fax: 515/288-0137 E-mail: mackelson@inhf.org) . "The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation builds partnerships and educates Iowans to protect, preserve and enhance Iowa's natural resources for future generations. The Foundation's current priorities include permanent land protection, trail, greenway and habitat complex establishment, and promotion of improved land management."

Island Institute, Maine c96 . (Island Institute, 410 Main Street, Rockland, Maine 04841, voice (207) 594-9209, fax (207) 594-9314, email:inquiry@islandinstitute.org . GIS Contact: Chris W. Brehme, GIS Analyst (207) 594-9209 x133 cbrehme@islandinstitute.org) "We are a membership-based community development organization focusing on the Gulf of Maine, particularly the 14 year-round island communities off the Maine coast...We are guided by an island ethic that recognizes the strength and fragility of Maine’s island communities and the finite nature of the Gulf of Maine ecosystems...Our GIS and Remote Sensing facilities support the organization's study of marine, estuarine and coastal environments..The Island Institute is committed to providing free public access to the data we generate." Check out their Coastal Guide to Remote Sensing download and their overview of Sattellite Data . Penobscot Bay has been a major focus of their GIS & Mapping work: Intertidal Mapping: "Data collected with an airborne, multi-spectral sensor known as CASI was used by Peter Larsen and Cynthia Erickson of Bigelow Laboratory to define, classify and map the intertidal and nearshore habitats of two portions of Penobscot Bay, Islesboro and the Muscle Ridge Channel." see the article: Intertidal Habitat Definition and Mapping in Penobscot Bay. . Surficial Geology: "Association of marine biological information with these geological parameters (by means of GIS) will produce the most complete documentation of marine habitats yet in the Gulf of Maine." A Fishermen's GIS covers their cod and haddock GIS work. see also their Great Cranberry Island GIS Project . Great Marsh GIS & Remote Sensing Project . Ducktrap Coalition Mapping project ...."The Herring Spawning Project is part of our Fishermen's GIS initiative, a series of projects designed to involve fishermen in the collection and analysis of fisheries data. This particular project involved locating and describing herring spawning sites in the waters off the coast of coastal eastern Maine." SEARCH .

Keeping Track © , Inc., Jericho VT c96 . (Susan Carol Morse Wolfrun, RFD 1 Box 263 Jericho, VT 05465 802.899.2023) KEEPING TRACK is a research and education project with both national and local focus. Forest carnivores such as cougars and bears are "umbrella species"; habitat protected for these large mammals guarantees healthy habitat for all species within their ecosystem--plants and animals alike. Preserving habitat for the large and wide-ranging carnivores will help us halt the disastrous and irreversible loss of more than five species of plants and animals every day."

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, New Orleans CA c96 . ( LAKEWAY 1 STE 820, 3900 CAUSEWAY BLVD, (PO BOX 6965) City: METARIE,LA, 70009-6965, USA, 504-836-2215 Fax: 504-836-7283 Contact: JEFF WATERS) "The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and maintaining the environmental health of the entire Lake Pontchartrain Basin."

Lakes Environmental Association, Bridgton, ME e92 .(102 Main Street Bridgeton, ME 04009 Phone: 207-647-8580 mailto:lakes@megalink.net G.I.S. Program Manager: Susan Breau) . Alternate site . The Lakes Environmental Association is a private, non-profit organization founded in Naples, Maine in 1970 to protect the water quality and watersheds of the Sebago-Long Lake Region. "Our first meeting twenty-eight years ago was held in Phil Chute’s barn...Today we have a very detailed protocol for monitoring and testing over thirty lakes. Once, we randomly worked on mitigation and shoreline restoration. Now, our advanced GIs computer mapping system zooms in and identifies the source of problems in any watershed. check out their Achievements, and see their Holt Pond Nature Area Map . Watershed Modeling gives a detailed overview of their GIS research and their work developing a "hotspots" model for lake ecology. GIS PROGRESS: Pilot Municipal GIS for Bridgton: "This program is awaiting approval from the Town of Bridgton. The focus of this goal has changed since its inception. Initially we had intended to provide GIS training and technical support to the town in exchange for software, financial support, and data acquisition. We are now more familiar with the magnitude of the commitment necessary to keep a GIS program running, and are in the process of more clearly defining our role as a source of local GIS support. Our goal is to encourage and support local conservation GIS users, while not taking full responsibility for the system administration tasks of the groups we assist. Our challenge is to discover and define the boundaries of this task. "

The Lands Council, Spokane WA cm97 . (formerly Inland Empire Public Lands Council, 517 S Division, Spokane, WA 992202-1365 tel:(509) 838-4912 mailto:tlc@landscouncil.org) . "The Inland Empire Public Lands Council is dedicated to the transition of the Greater Columbia River Ecosystem from resource extraction to long term community and biological sustainablility. The Council will achieve it's goal by increasing public awareness through education and promoting public participation in decision-making processes." . see Inland Empire Public Lands Council Joins Zero Cut Ranks from the Forest Voice newsletter.

Laurentian RC&D Council, Duluth MN cs97 . (4850 Miller Trunk Hwy, 3B Duluth, MN 55811 Phone: 218-720-5225 Fax: 218-720-3129 contact: Kim L. Sameulson, Executive Director, email:kls@mn.nrcs.usda.gov ) Laurentian RC&D Council is a nonprofit organization sponsoring resource conservation and rural development projects in Minnesota. Among the services they provide to area landowners are: Geographic Information System (GIS) transfer, Promote watershed best management practices, Assist area schools with educational projects, Promote forestry, agriculture and agroforestry .

Maine Audubon Society, Falmouth ME c95 c97 . (118 U.S. Route One P.O. Box 6009 Falmouth ME 04105-6009 Tel (207) 781-2330 Fax (207) 781-0974 email: home@maineaudubon.org ) . Since its inception in 1843 as the Portland Society of Natural History, the Maine Audubon Society has become one of New England's leading regional organizations for environmental advocacy and education. ..."Maine Audubon first acquired a GIS for its Northern Forest Project in the spring of 1994. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) donated software and training, and a grant from another source provided us with the funding to purchase the initial hardware, except for a plotter which is still needed. Maine Audubon has been using GIS continuously since then (particularly ArcView) to analyze data on the ecological and recreational resources of the Northern Forest; to identify and prioritize Maine Wildland Conservation Areas; to produce small (8 1/2" x 11") maps to communicate Maine Audubon's conservation plan for the Northern Forest with the public and stakeholders; and to produce large (3' x 4') maps for outreach with specific groups of landowners, stakeholders, local citizens and officials.... Mapping Wildland Conservation Areas: "GIS Specialist Barbara Charry, Sandra Neily, and intern Melissa Carey recently took maps of Maine Audubon’s five Wildland Conservation Areas on the road. The maps are a compendium of key ecological and recreational features within Maine’s Northern Forest Region, outlining the general areas that Maine Audubon and its Northern Forest Alliance partners would like to see preserved (see "Defending Our Priorities, Maine Audubon’s Proposal for Protecting the Best of the Northern Forest," Habitat, Fall 1994). Landowners, foresters, guides, biologists, tourist business owners, and interested citizens from Jackman to Machias were asked to review the maps and suggest various conservation strategies. Charry is incorporating comments received during this process into the maps, and several communities have expressed interest in using the revised maps for planning purposes. Grassroots Action includes tips and guides for citizen action . Wetlands Manual includes a comprehensive overview of wetlands conservation and mapping . Valuing The Nature Of Maine is a bibliography of the economic role of Maine's woods and wildlife: "Enhancing Maine's economy through the wise stewardship of its resources could be the most enduring legacy we leave our children." . Don't miss Anti-Environmentalists Target Conservation Progress in Maine : "Every national and state poll that asks voters if they would compromise environmental quality to enhance business growth has found that a wide majority of voters will not compromise the health of our environment...In seven hearings around the state on a comprehensive plan to manage development in over 10 million acres of our northern forest, over 70% of those who wrote and testified asked for increased forest protection... In the last two years, an extreme anti-environmental movement targeting environmentalists as the “enemy” of Maine and its way of life and economy, has been very active in small towns, local planning commissions, Maine’s legislature (and Congress as well). "

Maine Natural Resources Information and Mapping Center. (22 State House Station Augusta, Maine, 04333 Telephone: 207-287-2801 E-mail: nrimc@state.me.us) "It is the mission of the Natural Resources Information and Mapping Center to provide the People of Maine with quality information to facilitate informed decision-making for natural resource management, economic development, conservation planning, and regulation; to provide public assistance; and to promote education. The Center will inventory, map, assess, and interpret Maine's geology and the ecology of the State's plants, animals, and natural communities. The Center will support its mission by using computerized