ESRI Conservation Program Resources:

Conservancies & Land Trusts

(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)

Adams County Land Conservancy Pa CT98 . (Land Conservancy of Adams County, PO Box 4584 Gettysburg, PA 17325 tel:(717) 334-2828 FAX (717) 334-2837 GIS Contact: Curt Musselman email:mapman@mail.cvn.net ) "Within our first two years of incorporation, the LCAC has received donations of fee-simple title or conservation easements for nine tracts totaling over 250 acres of land. Our five-year goal is to have 2000 acres of donated easements...The primary use of GIS that the LCAC has made to date, has been to bring together the geographic information required when preparing a baseline report of conditions for conservation easements. So far, we have used digital orthophotos to make measures of impervious areas, and have shown property lines, soils units, wetlands and zoning classifications on a digital orthophoto background. "

American Chestnut Land Trust Md . (1 Aspen Road Post Office Box 204 Port Republic, MD 20676 (410) 586-1570 Fax: (410) 586-0468 aclt@chesapeake.net GIS contact Arthur Cochran) "As of fall 1997 ACLT had acquired title to 625 acres in the watershed and facilitated in the protection of an additional 1100+ acres by the Nature Conservancy, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and other private landowners....While continuing to work on acquisition and protection of remaining critical tracts of land within the Parkers Creek Watershed, the ACLT finds its efforts increasingly directed toward land management. In addition to managing its own property, ACLT has accepted stewardship responsibility for 539 acres owned by TNC and DNR, with an additional 300 acres to be added soon. The Trust would like to develop watershed-wide ecosystem management plans. "

American Farmland Trust . (1200 18th Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036, tel:202-331-7300 fax:202-659-8339 email:info@farmland.org) "For the past 17 years, American Farmland Trust has worked to protect our nation's best farmland while encouraging farmers to improve the stewardship of their land. AFT was one of the first NGO's to study GIS. Top 20 threatened agricultural regions (with maps of each) . Excellent on-line map collection under : Farmland Information Library, Maps: . Percent Change in Cropland Area, 1982-1992 Percent Area in Developed Land, 1992 Percent Area in Prime Farmland, 1992 Graphic Highlights of Natural Resource Trends in the U.S. between 1982 and 1992, Farming on the Edge Map, Sonoma County [CA] AT RISK Assessment,DuPage County Zoning Map of Unincorporated Areas, Chesapeake Bay and Vicinity, Color Landform Atlas of the United States. Don't miss their publication Sprawl and Smart Growth in California: "This case study finds that inefficient suburban development - low-density "sprawl" - is consuming far more of California's unique agricultural land than is necessary to accommodate its growing population." (to order, contact Erik Vink, 530-753-1073, mailto:evink@farmland.org), as well as many similar studies on other parts of the USA. See also "Saving the Farm: A Handbook for Conserving Agricultural Land" and Farmland Protection Toolbox

American River Conservancy, Coloma CA cm97 .(8913 HIGHWAY 49, P.O. BOX 562 COLOMA, CA 95613 Tel:(530) 621-1224 FAX (530) 621-4818 EMAIL: arc@coloma.com) "The American River Conservancy is a grassroots nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and enhance natural habitats where biodiversity can flourish; and to promote, through environmental education, a broad ethic of stewardship, assuring healthy ecosystems now and for future generations. "

The Berks County Conservancy Pa e98 . ( 960 Old Mill Road Wyomissing, PA 19610 610 372-4992 FAX 372-2917 berkscon@ptd.net Gis Contact: Joe Hoffman ) "established as a non-profit membership organization in 1974, with a mission to preserve Berks County's unique cultural and environmental heritage for the benefit of future generations. To fulfill that mission we have focused our efforts on preserving agricultural land and open space; protecting the quality of our streams and ground water; preserving historic landmarks and scenic landscapes and by promoting those values which contribute to a sustainable future for our community." see their Land Preservation Maps .

The Big Sur Land Trust Ca e98 . (PO Box 221864 Carmel, CA 93922 (831) 625-5523 fax(831) 625-0716 e-mail: bigsurlandtr@earthlink.net Gis contact: Maggie Hardy ) "The mission of the Big Sur Land Trust is to protect for public benefit lands in Monterey County that are significant as natural habitat, open space, agricultural, watershed and recreational property....The purpose of our GIS is to map existing Big Sur Land Trust acquisitions and other publicly and privately held land at the parcel level. The maps are used for presentation purposes and included in project grant proposals as well as in the monitoring process of our lands. In monitoring, it is necessary to map natural resources, endangered species, visual sensitivity and any changes in the land...Since its inception in 1978, The Big Sur Land Trust has completed 85 transactions and acquired over 15, 000 acres of pristine wilderness in Monterey County. "

Calusa Land Trust, St. James City, FL c95. (Peter Ordway, Calusa Land Trust and Nature Preserve, P.O.Box 747, 6715 Rockaway Drive, Bokeelia, FL 33922 email:pordway1@coconet.com) Just beginning work on South Florida Water management district primary data based on 1995 overflights.

Catawba Lands Conservancy, Charlotte NC cs97 . (105 West Morehead Street Charlotte, NC 28202 Phone: (704) 342-3330 FAX: (704) 342-3340 mailto:clands@bellsouth.net GIS Contacts: Jack Drost, Susan Cox) "Catawba Lands Conservancy is dedicated to preserving the land, water and wildlife resources of the Lower Catawba River Basin of North Carolina....We were able to use our CTSP GIS software grant in selecting and prioritizing sites for acquisition, and we made maps of all of our priority acquisition sites. These maps have been very effective in communicating our goals and our activities to various audiences. We produced a set of baseline geographic layers for the monitoring and management of an individual acquisition site. We acquired all of the GIS layers required for our mapping and analysis projects, excepting those that are not available and a few that are cost-prohibitive. Through trial-and-error we have been able to deal with most of the problems we have encountered with our GIS. Lack of data for certain areas has been the most significant difficulty that we have encountered.

Center for Natural Lands Management, Inc., Sacramento CA cm95 .(425 E. Alvarado Street, Suite H, Fallbrook, CA 92028-2960 tel:(760) 731-7790 FAX: (760) 731-7791 email:cnlm@cnlm.org . GIS Contact: Brenda Pace, Administrative Director, 60738 Golf Village Loop Drive Bend, OR 97701 tel:(541)330-5533 fax:(541)330-5563 mailto:bpace@cnlm.org) "The main purpose of CNLM is to manage habitat parcels in such a way as to maintain their biodiversity. CNLM manages land parcels by taking fee title or easements to conservation and mitigation lands that would normally be retained by the developer, donated to city or county parks or lighting and irrigation districts, public works, local land trusts, or even state or federal resource agencies....The Property Assessment Program was developed to evaluate the biological needs and agency permit requirements of land parcels prior to acquisition or management by CNLM...The Property Analysis Record (PAR) is a new, easy-to-use tool for developing accurate estimates of stewardship and endowment needs for natural areas....CNLM is active in both land management and the development of management plans for agencies and organizations....The Sustainable Conservation Planning Program:..The program consists of seminars presented to conservation planners to forecast the tasks and costs of stewardship." GIS STATUS: "We are embarking on a plan that we call ECOS to link monitoring and management database tables with GIS. As stewards of over 40,000 conservation acres throughout California, we need such a system to manage efficiently and effectively. ".

Coastal Land Trust, Mendocino CA e94 c98 . (27401 Albion Ridge Rd, PO Box 340, Albion, CA, 95410, tel:707-937-2709 fax:707-937-4520 email:rixanne@mcn.org) "Coastal Land Trust is a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to preservation of natural lands, establishment of public access trails, land management and restoration, environmental research, and education." They are working on watershed and water quality monitoring on the Albion, Navarro, Big, and Noyo rivers and the Pacific coastline on Mendocino Coast." GIS PLAN: "develop a central Coast GIS Lab as a central repository of GIS coverages for the coastal watersheds. The Coast GIS lab would develop the capability for creating local-level coverages dealing with specific issues on the coast, and for "clipping" specific watershed coverages for use by our associated groups. "

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Naples FL c95 . (The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, 1450 Merrihue Drive Naples, FL 34102, tel:(941) 262-0304 email: mailto:home@conservancy.org) "To conserve the biodiversity, environmental quality, and natural resources of Southwest Florida's native ecosystems for present and future generations." Have assisted with the protection of over 300,000 acres so far.

Deschutes Basin Land Trust, Or (2445 NE Division St. Suite 204, Bend OR 97701 USA Brad Chalfant, Executive Director)

Dutchess Land Conservancy, Millbrook NY e92 . (RR2, Box 13, Route 44 West, Millbrook , NY , 12545, USA, TEL:914-677-3002 , FAX:914-677-3008 , email: dlc@bestweb.net GIS Contact: Art Collings) "Founded in 1987, Currently holds conservation easements on 10,000 acres of land in upstate New York and promotes open space planning and conservation education in Dutchess County...Land Conservancy (DLC) is an conservation land trust with an active and successful program in a beautiful region of the New York's Hudson River Valley that is highly threatened by sprawling development extending north from New York City. "GIS Plans: "DLC is in the initial stages of transferring some of our mapping and planning workload to GIS. DLC currently creates a large volume of maps/resource inventories/landscape analyses on a professional but time consuming basis with hand graphics. "

Five Valleys Land Trust, Inc., Missoula MT cm97 . (PO Box 8953, Missoula, MT 59807.or: 104 E. Main St., Missoula, MT 59802 . tel:(406) 549-0755 fax:(406) 542-1652 email - fvlt@montana.com) "The Five Valleys Land Trust works to protect wildlife habitat, river corridors, and significant open space in and around the greater Missoula area. Primarily using the conservation easement tool, FVLT works cooperatively with individuals, corporations and governments to achieve permanent protection of these areas." see the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area page for a sample GIS map. Don't miss: Conservation Easement Map by Jim Berkey.

Grand Canyon Trust Az . (2601 N. Fort Valley Road Flagstaff, AZ 86001 USA tel:(520) 774-7488 fax:(520) 774-7570 email:info@grandcanyontrust.org ) See Canyon Country Landscape Map . "The mission of the Grand Canyon Trust is to protect and restore the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau - its spectacular landscapes, flowing rivers, clean air, diversity of plants and animals, and areas of beauty and solitude....Our approach focuses on protection and restoration of the ecological integrity of whole landscapes, not just pieces. We strive to protect the environment in a healthy state into the future, by incorporating multiple goals across a landscape - goals that identify both priority areas for protection and necessary conditions for landscape-wide environmental sustainability. "

Heritage Conservancy, Doylestown , PA c95 . (85 Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, PA 18901 Phone: 215-345-7020 Fax: 215-345-4328 email: info@heritageconservancy.org ) "The Heritage Conservancy strives to preserve the natural and historic heritage of Bucks County and the Delaware Valley region." They have been responsible for the preservation of 1000's of acres since their founding in 1958. Their GIS lab is used for data analysis, management, open space mapping and project work like the Tookany Creek Watershed. They have also made a special effort to provide GIS teaching and support to many smaller non-profits in the Delaware River Valley region and about ten percent of the smaller municipalities in the watershed. GIS program .

Housatonic Valley Association, Cornwall Bridge CT cs97 c99 . (P.O. Box 28, Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754 Tel: (860) 672-6678 Fax: (860) 672-0162 E-mail: housatonic@snet.net Alternate URL ) "HVA works to protect farmland, open space, rivers and drinking water, and in the management of solid and hazardous waste. Programs include the Housatonic RiverBelt Greenway (a planned continuous network of walking trails and bike paths connecting green spaces from the river's source in the Berkshires to Long Island Sound), Watershed Inventory (identifying surveying and cataloguing natural resources and open space), the Goundwater Action Project and public advocacy." GIS STATUS: "Our geographic information system, now digital rather than manual, plays a central role in HVA's watershed management programs. We are able to access digital land use, regulatory, demographic, economic, and cultural data needed to identify high-priority natural resource areas in the region and develop protection strategies tailored to those areas. GIS has augmented our staff resources and has greatly expanded HVA's effectiveness, providing an efficient way to integrate, manage, analyze, and display information....HVA's Community Watershed Initiative takes the data developed from an intensive, data specific outreach to key conservation groups, employers, technicians, agencies and commissions, elected officials, and individuals and catalogs basic water quality factors, including, but not limited to, land uses, storm water runoff sources, water quality or quantity degradation, wildlife habitat, hydrology, soil types, geology, transportation, utility infrastructure, aquifers, recharge areas, waste disposal sites, and existing protected lands. Following this research and subsequent analysis, in each sub-basin we will convene a working group to form a council of Watershed Partners, responsible for assessing and interpreting the data, identifying and reviewing issues as they are identified, crafting solution plans, and implementing those plans. We have already begun work in three sub-basins....Local Data Sharing Project: (Hold local meetings in each town to review and share existing data, and offer as a tool for improved local land use decision-making). This project involved the acquisition of digital geographic data and inventorying all properties permanently protected for conservation purposes by governmental entities and qualified landholding organizations. HVA downloaded its geographic data from the UConn Library's MAGIC website, using road DLG files, hydrography subsets, town boundaries and polygons, CTDEP property files, and federal, municipal, and privately-protected property boundaries from Connecticut's Office of Policy and Management (OPM) files to create base maps for each town. To research and compile the maps and data for each town which identified and categorized protected open space, HVA received cooperation and participation from a number of local land trusts, including the Warren, Sharon, Kent, Norfolk, Salisbury, Heritage, and Litchfield Land Trusts, and regional organizations, including the Farmington River Watershed Association, Nature Conservancy, Weantinoge Heritage Trust, the Litchfield County Conservation District, Steep Rock Association, Northwest Connecticut Council of Governments (NWCOG) and the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials (LHCEO). Upon completion, HVA submitted our parcel information in an ArcInfo export file as well as an ArcView 3.0 file to CTDEP and OPM. In addition to the two state agencies, we also shared our data with the NWCOG and the LHCEO, the Litchfield County Conservation District, the Farmington River Watershed Association. We provided maps and data to municipalities or land trusts which have the required computers and software. For those towns or land trusts that cannot use the digital data, we provided hard copy maps.

Lancaster Farmland Trust, Pa e98 . (128 East Marion Street Lancaster PA 17602 tel:717 293-0707 fax:717 293-0779 email:lft@savelancasterfarms.org GIS Contact: Heidi J. Lundy ) "Lancaster Farmland Trust is a private, non-profit land trust working with individual farmers to preserve prime agricultural land in Lancaster County, PA. We work principally with religously conservative farm families for whom it is important that our organization receive no direct government funding. Our funding comes entirely through private contributions from individuals, businesses and philanthropic organizations... The County was named one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world in 1997 by the World Monument Association....Established in 1988, Lancaster Farmland Trust has already preserved 100 farms and 6,439 acres for perpetuity-including the farm where the movie "Witness" was filmed. The Trust expects to preserve 15 additional farms during 1999." GIS STATUS: "In May of 1998 we received a grant of ArcView 3.0 from the ESRI Conservation Program. At the same time we received a grant of extensive county-wide data from the Lancaster County GIS Department. We also upgraded our computer hardware to include a new larger monitor, and an 8 1/2"x11" color inkjet printer. We were immediately able to put the geographic information system to work for us in printing maps for our baseline documentation on farms. When a conservation easement is donated to us, the landowner is able to claim a charitable tax deduction from the Internal Revenue Service. One of the qualifying factors in receiving the deduction is that the farm is valuable to the public, and one of the ways in which we confirm this is to produce a baseline documentation report on each farm we preserve. This report includes a written description of the farm at the time it was preserved, photos of the farm and a map. Before we starting using GIS, we were tracing the maps by hand from the printouts of an antiquated DOS deed drawing program. Now, using the County's tax assessment data, we can produce accurate, easy to read maps that provide all the relevant information on buildings, soil types, water flow, contours, and other details. We also monitor each farm, at least once a year, on which we hold a conservation easement. The GIS maps, which can include orthographic photos of the preserved parcels, are immensely helpful in finding farm boundaries and documenting changes in woodland pasture and crop area. Consequently, we have begun creating maps for each of the farms we have preserved over the past 10 years. An example of a baseline map is attached as Map 1, "the Benuel Stoltzfoos farms." Another extremely effective and important use of our GIS over the past year has been to create township-wide maps showing which farms are preserved. We use these maps at informational meetings with farmers. When a farm is preserved, we generally ask the property owner to speak to a small group of his or her neighbors and friends about why they think preservation is important. Township maps, showing preserved farms, are a great conversation starter at these meetings....We borrowed a more innovative use of our GIS capabilities from Peninsula Open Space Trust (San Francisco). We designed a very nice 8 1/2" by 11" map of the entire county, showing all the farms preserved by us, the farms preserved with the County's organization, and farms on the waiting list with the county. This map also shows the Urban Growth Areas where we don't preserve farms. We printed each contributor's name on the top of this map, and sent it out to them when we requested their annual membership dues. "

Napa County Land Trust, Napa CA c97 . (1040 Main Street, Suite 203, Napa, CA, tel:(707) 252-3270 FAX: (707) 252-1071 mailto:nclt@napanet.net) "We're an organization of over 1,100 members who are committed to permanently preserving the lands that sustain us: agricultural properties, wetlands, open space, woodlands, watersheds, wildlife habitats. Achievements: More than 12,000 acres in over 30 properties now are protected by the Land Trust. The largest area preserved to date is the 1,312-acre Mead Ranch on Atlas Peak, partly agricultural, largely wild and natural. The map identifies areas already preserved by landowners under Land Trust programs." Dont miss their beautiful Napa County Map . and the Palisades Trail Project map . GIS PROGRESS: " The grant from CTSP has been useful in regard to identification on two levels. Within the organization, the resulting county level maps produced provide an excellent visual "frame of reference" for both our progress in land saving as well as our work into the future. The process of pulling together the resources to construct the map forced the Land Trust to broaden our outreach to the Bureau of Land Management, State Fish and Game, and the like. Secondly, the explosion of GIS interest among local, state, federal and non-profit entities created a need for a more thorough analysis of the County and its natural resources. By virtue of having GIS capability we were leaders in this process....The use of GIS maps to "get the point across" regarding our work has been amazing. Donors, landowners and the public who have never really shown an interest in our work are now compelled to help because of the draw that the maps have produced. The usefulness of the maps at the high school level has been less profound, but is building.... It is hard to believe that we ever did our work without GIS. For a land conservation organization it is a central part of both our public relations program as well as a means of seeing our future challenges. The GIS maps have had a profound impact."

Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Nantucket , MA e95 . (118 Cliff Road, Post Office Box 13, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554 tel: 508/228-2884 fax:508/228-5528) "For nearly thirty-five years, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, a membership supported, nonprofit conservation organization, has strived to permanently protect many important and beautiful areas of the Island for the enjoyment and education of residents, visitors, and future generations...responsible for protecting over 8,452 acres of distinctive natural areas from development...We develop guides, maps, interpretive signs and educational materials for the many visitors to our properties. " Nice map of Nantucket Conservation Foundation properties .

Natural Lands Trust, Pa cs96 . (Hildacy Farm, 1031 Palmers Mill Road, Media, Pa. 19063 tel:(610)353-5587 GIS Contact, Diane Rosencrance email:adminstr@natlands.org) "The greater Philadelphia region is made up of some of the nation's richest and most beautiful natural areas. Here you can find rare, old-growth forests, diverse wildflower meadows and dynamic wetlands....Over the past several decades we have helped conserve more than 64,000 acres of natural areas. Today the Trust owns and manages a system of 48 preserves which includes some of the most ecologically significant land in the area. " For their current GIS work, see: Smart Conservation A Methodology for Prioritizing the Philadelphia Region’s Natural Resources and Creating an Ongoing Conservation Science Forum: "...The need for a Conservation Science Methodology (Smart Conservation) hinges on two missing tools: (1) consistent conservation criteria and (2) a regional-scale landscape analysis of critical lands in the form of a map, which would incorporate such criteria using multi-layered Geographic Information System (GIS). If these tools existed, the conservation community would have a practical, defensible, and adaptable way to apply science to conservation, as well as a more effective means for monitoring and assessing ecological lands and modeling patterns of ecology, land use, land management, and economic growth. The process will consider market threats to determine levels of urgency for the protection of identified natural resources. ..."

Oregon Water Trust, Portland, OR c95 . (111 SW Naito Parkway, Suite 404 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: 503/226-9055 Fax: 503/226-3480 email:info@owt.org) "Oregon Water Trust works to acquire water rights through gift, lease, or purchase, and commit those rights to instream flows in order to conserve fisheries and aquatic habitat and to enhance regional values and the ecological health of water courses." Their approach is based on a Scientific, Market-Based, Cooperative Model . Check their MAP of Priority Basin project areas . Nice LINKS PAGE for watershed resources .

Ozark Regional Land Trust, Inc. (ORLT), Mo e98 . (427 S. Main St., Carthage, MO 64836 tel:(417) 358-4484 fax:(417) 358 4438 email:orlt@ipa.net GIS contact: Jan Hinsey ) ."Ozark Regional Land Trust was formed in 1984 as a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to maintaining the unique natural character of the Ozarks...ORLT is in the process of developing a comprehensive baseline inventory of our protected properties to be used in our periodic monitoring. The inventory and monitoring program is vital to ensuring the integrity of the property and its protection in perpetuity. We will be using USGS topographical, aerial, land survey, and soil and water survey maps as a basis for our mapping system with additional layers of human impacts, natural communities and land management plans. We are also in the process of designing a database to support this inventory and monitoring program which will be used to store the associated data for future analysis and the generation of a monitoring checklist. "

Pacific Forest Trust, Boonville, CA c95 (Ecp feature article) .(14125 Highway 128, Boonville, CA 95415 or PO Box 858, Boonville, CA 95415 . Tel:(707)895-2090 fax: (707)895-2138 email:pft@pacific.net ) " The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) mission is to restore, enhance and preserve the private, productive forestlands of the Pacific Northwest, with a primary focus on California, Oregon and Washington. "

Peninsula Heritage Land Trust, Gig Harbor WA cs97 . (P.O. Box 1973, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 tel:(253) 853-5616 mailto:vjyoung@ibm.net ) . "The Peninsula Heritage Land Trust is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation founded and adminstered by volunteers residing on the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsulas in the Puget Sound." See a MAP of their service area and list of their accomplishments .

Rattlesnake Gutter Trust, Ma c99 . (62 N. Leverett Rd., Leverett, MA 01054 . tel:(413) 367-0389 email:RatGutTrst@aol.com ) "The Rattlesnake Gutter Trust is a 501(c)(3) land trust focusing on protection of open space in Leverett, MA, and surrounding towns. Named after a spectacular geologic feature on the northern slope of Brushy Mountain, the Trust formed in the late 1980s to protect the deep glacial ravine from development pressures. Since that time the all-volunteer organization has been instrumental in protecting numerous other properties and landscape features. Now in our second decade of land protection, we are adding GIS capabilities to develop a long-range, proactive land conservation plan based on core areas, corridors and greenways, and connections with protected lands in surrounding communities. "

Riverside Land Conservancy, Riverside CA c97 . (4075 Mission Inn Avenue Riverside, California, USA 92501 tel:(909) 788-0670 Exec Director Dave Flietner) "The Riverside Land Conservancy is dedicated to the preservation of open space by seeking to identify, protect, and manage habitats of rare and endangered species, natural lands, and other sensitive sites throughout Riverside County." see "Photo tour of some of our preservation areas"

San Andreas Land Conservancy, Ca e97 . (Whale City Cafe, 1 Ocean Ave. @ Highway One Davenport, CA 95017 or P. O. Box 268 , Davenport CA 95017 tel:(831) 427-3733 GIS contact: Dave Kossack, dkossack@igc.org ) "San Andreas Land Conservancy continues to promote the protection and restoration of native habitats through the application of GIS and spatial analysis to its own projects as well as assisting other organization in the conservation community. Our on going projects include protection of San Vicente Creek the other watersheds of Ben Lomond Mountain in Santa Cruz, CA...Farther a field we have assisted the Big Sur Land Trust with data acquisition and ArcView training and have produced a GIS project of Big Sur for the Henry Miller Library, Big Sur. We continue to work with Friends of the Tecate Cypress towards the protection of Coal Canyon and the wildlife connection between the Santa Ana Mountains and Chino Hills. We are currently working with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to develop vegetation maps for the lands the District owns and manages in the Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. " see the Highlander newsletter for some online map examples from SALC .

San Joaquin River Parkway Trust, Fresno CA c96 .(1550 E. Shaw Ave., Suite 114 Fresno, CA 93710 tel:(559) 248-8480 fax:(559) 248-8474. Exec Director: Dave Koehler mailto:Dkoehler@riverparkway.org) "Our mission is to preserve and restore San Joaquin River lands having ecological, scenic or historic significance, to educate the public on the need for stewardship, to research issues affecting the river, and to promote educational and recreational uses consistent with the protection of the river’s resources. ...The River Parkway Trust is working in cooperation with local government and the private sector, to create a 22 mile long greenbelt along the San Joaquin River from Friant Dam to Highway 99. Permanently protected river bottom land in the form of natural reserves, parks and open space now totals over 1,600 acres. " Don't miss their Parkway Map .

Santa Cruz County Land Trust ( Land Trust of Santa Cruz County),Ca e97 . (734 Chestnut St, .or. PO Box 1287, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1287 tel:831-429-6116 tel:831-429-1166 email:landtrst@cruzio.com gis contact: Eric Schmidt) GIS STATUS: "We are making great progress with the ArcView software grant. We have been obtaining data from a number of different sources, including the County and, through the Coastal Commission's Water CD-ROM set, AMBAG, NWI and more. With these data, we've finished several maps that have brought this organization very quickly from the typewriter era into substantive, mapping-based conservation analysis. We are currently working on two big, topographically diverse open space projects along the Santa Cruz County coast. Both properties lend themselves to a wide range of resource mapping and analysis, We plan to drape digital elevation models on shaded relief, then add stream, road and habitat themes in order to better model the open space properties we manage as well as those we evaluate for acquisition. "

Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Ca e98 . (5750 Rameriz Canyon Road, Malibu, California 90265 USA tel:310-589-3200 ext. 126 fax:310-589-2408 email:smmc@smmc.ca.gov gis contact: Jeffrey S. Bolton ) "Through direct action, alliances, partnerships, and joint powers authorities, the Conservancy's mission is to strategically buy back, preserve, protect, restore, and enhance treasured pieces of Southern California to form an interlinking system of urban, rural, and river parks; open space; trails; and wildlife habitats that are easily accessible to the general public." GIS STATUS: "The following are some of the helpful contributions that ArcView and our grant has made to our agency: development monitoring, land acquisition planning, grant writing, graphics, natural resources analysis, GIS cooperation with other agencies, mapping of parkland, updating park boundaries, staff reports, and environmental analysis. The DAK has provided us with the capabilities of converting City of LA parcel data into out projection. But the most significant contribution has been with fire brush clearance on out properties. The fire brush mapping that we can now achieve is going to save us significant amounts of money (we don't even have a budget for this) and staff time. This mapping has shown that in large areas where we have always cleared, we should not have because, now with GIS, detailed City parcel data, and 3 foot DOQs we can accurately determine where we should clear. ...We are now ready to move onto the next step in GIS analysis, which is to use Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst to continue to enhance land management within the Santa Monica Mountains. "

Save-the-Redwoods League, San Francisco CA c97 . (114 Sansome Street, Room 605, San Francisco, CA 94104-3814, tel: (415) 362 2352 fax: (415) 362 7017 mailto:saveredwoods@igc.org ) "The Save-the-Redwoods League has practiced its unique approach to conserving California's redwood forest lands since 1918. We buy land from willing sellers at fair market value using private donations (matched by public park funds when available), and donate this land to one of the California Redwood State Parks, or another public park or preserve. Thirty-seven California Redwood State Parks, three National Parks, a National Monument, and many local public parks have been established to protect Coast Redwoods and Giant Sequoias, and the Save-the-Redwoods League has provided over a hundred million dollars in donated funds to help purchase more than a quarter of a million acres of redwood forest land that is now preserved within these parks." Redwood Resources is an excellent page of background and guides to redwoods conservation, including a comprehensive Redwoods Bibliography . Don't miss the Redwoods Conservation Master Plan, an example of a GIS-based master conservation planning approach, including a comprehensive Stakeholder Survey and Planning Primer .

Sheffield Land Trust, Ma c98 . (404 LeGeyt Rd., P.O. Box 940, Sheffield, MA 01257-0940 USA tel:(413) 229-0234 fax:(413) 229-0239 email:shefland@bcn.net . GIS contact: Kathy Orlando (413) 229-6665 ) "The Sheffield Land Trust is a non-profit membership organization that protects land primarily through private action. Established in 1989, the Land Trust today holds conservation restrictions throughout Sheffield and is active in diverse projects, from creating wetlands preserves and conducting vegetation studies, to annual river clean-ups....The common factor in all of our work is that maps guide us in everything that we do. Each organization has their own maps and only when projects overlap do we get a glimpse at the larger conservation picture. We have created several maps by hand that have brought this information together, but it is always changing. We have data from the state and all our partners in files and in our heads but need one place to put this all together to really use as a planning tool. GIS is the perfect tool and we have access to the base information from which we can do the analysis. "

Sierra Foothills Conservancy, Ca e97 . (PO Box 529 Prather, CA 93651 .Phone: 209/855-3473 Fax: 209/855-3473 (call first) Email: sfc@protosource.com . GIS contact: Mike Spiess mspiess@csufresno.edu) . "The Sierra Foothill Conservancy is a land trust dedicated to the preservation of open space and traditional land uses threatened by the rapid urbanization in the foothills of Fresno and Madera Counties. The Conservancy now manages 3,400 acres of unspoiled natural land with plans to protect additional land in the future. Our goals include public education and scientific research....We plan to use a GIS for the following: . -To keep a resource inventory of the existing preserves and surrounding lands. We are in the beginning stages of a archeological inventory and mapping project. Existing plane table maps will be added to the GIS. TNC also has resource data (ArcInfo) as part of their state wide "scoping" project that they will share with us. We also have data from the biological surveys and aerial photos (1940, 1963, 1993 USGS). . -Land acquisition planning. We currently have Fresno county parcel data in ArcInfo format and DEM data. (This is being used by a volunteer using USFS facilities.) . -Range management. Tracking feed (grass) production, animal units, and vegetative mapping. . -To produce educational materials such as maps for our on going programs. "

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Concord NH c95 . (54 Portsmouth Street, Concord, NH 03301-5400 . tel:603-224-9945 mailto:info@spnhf.org GIS contact: Dan Sundquist) "Founded by a handful of concerned citizens in 1901, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) has today grown into one of the country's most effective statewide land conservation groups, responsible for the protection of over 100,000 acres in permanent reservations, easements and restrictions, placing them among the top 10 land trusts in the country...BIOLOGICAL INVENTORY REVEALS MUCH ABOUT SOCIETY LANDS: The past few months have seen exciting advances in the knowledge we have about the natural diversity of our forest reservations. A new computerized geographic information system (GIS) has enhanced our ability to learn more about our properties. It allows us to overlay our forest cover type maps with other information such as soils, wetlands, and geology. In depth, scientific studies on the Hay Reservation in Newbury and the Stoddard properties are uncovering rare plant communities, cataloging mammals, and surveying bird populations - all of which provide new insights into the structure and function of our forest ecosystems. By 1999, the GIS program now includes a strategic land protection planning project than seeks to set priorities for expanding the protected lands base around SPNHF properties (28,000 acres and counting) and to connect to other protected lands in the vicinity. SPNHF have four study areas underway right now around NH, and will continue with this approach in years to come. Part of the study method involves community interaction and input from the local conservation commissions re: key natural and cultural values to protect.

Sonoma Land Trust, Ca c98 . (1122 Sonoma Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95405 tel:707-526-6930 fax:707-526-3001 email:slt@sonic.net GIS contact: Thomas Baginski ) "Sonoma Land Trust (SLT), founded in 1976, has protected more than 10,000 acres of baylands, wetlands, redwoods, oak chaparral, urban separators, and agricultural lands in Sonoma County, CA. We are the oldest and largest non-profit conservation organization based in Sonoma County with 1200 active members and scores of volunteers....As a land trust, most of our activities involve some mapping component. More specifically, theGIS grant will be used to accomplish three major tasks during the initial year of the grant period. These specific tasks are: completing the Sonoma County Coastal Parcel Study, updating the monitoring database for SLT's land holdings, and preparing presentation material for new conservation projects. ...The immediate use of GIS will be for the Sonoma Land Trust Coastal Area Parcel Study (CAPS). The CAPS will determine the feasibility of acquiring, through fee or easement, lands of scenic and conservation value between Bodega Bay and Stewarts Point along the Sonoma County coast. The project will involve extensive mapping and analysis of land parcels, wildlife habitat, wetlands, conservation value, zoning and other layers for the region. The long term use of will be to update the mapping, analysis, and management capabilities of the Sonoma Land Trust for all of our projects and properties."

South Kingstown Land Trust, Ri, c99 . (66 Main Street Unit 3, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879 USA tel:401-789-0962 fax:401-789-5816 GIS contact: Joanne Riccitelli email:sklt@ids.net ) "The South Kingstown Land Trust was established in 1983 as a private, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the natural, scenic, and historic areas of the town of South Kingstown. To date, SKLT has succeeded in completing 63 projects, protecting 896 acres of land, through conservation easement or outright ownership. ....The South Kingstown Land Trust (SKLT) has already made significant investments in using GIS as an analytical and mapping tool, through the expert guidance of its volunteer Board member, Dr. Peter August of the University of Rhode Island, and has come to depend on the analytical and cartographic products that this software can create. The challenge for the GIS program at SKLT now is to transfer much of the responsibility and capability for GIS work to its new Land Protection Director. "

The Nature Conservancy, Wash DC e90 .The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to the preservation of plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive...Acres Protected in the U.S. since 1953: 9.5 million, Acres Protected outside the U.S. with TNC Assistance: 42 million, Acres Managed: 1.3 million (acres the Conservancy owns or has under conservation easement), Membership: 828,000, Corporate Associates: 1,385, Preserves Under Conservancy Management: 1,500, Natural Heritage Inventory Programs and Conservation Data Centers: 86.. .The Nature Conservancy's Conservation Science Programs: Conservation Science programs encompass the biological, ecological, and technological knowledge that we draw on to identify and protect at-risk biodiversity, as well as the management methods and practices we employ to ensure its survival.... Selected Nature Conservancy Scientific Data Sets ....The Scientific Resource Center is a forum for researchers and other conservation specialists to access scientific and technical information from Conservancy science programs. The resource center includes information derived from the Conservancy's scientific databases, documentation about how this information is developed and managed, and guidance for where and how to aceess additional information....Natural Heritage Network : Natural heritage programs manage standardized information on endangered plants, animals and ecological communities. What animals, plants and ecological communities are rare? Where do they occur? How are they faring?...see: The Natural Heritage Methodology. Heritage databases are regularly analyzed by Conservancy scientists to identify which areas we should be trying to protect next, and geographic information systems (GIS), allows us to overlay sets of information--on an area's hydrology, vegetation cover, and land-use patterns, for instance--to help us analyze a particular site. We are also making great strides in assessing biodiversity protection at both multiple scales of biology and geography--from rare species to ecosystems, and from nature preserves to landscapes. We have moved beyond looking just inside the boundaries of our preserves to examining the much broader landscapes in which they are embedded. At this landscape scale, we must also address ecological function and the influences of people. To enable us to work at these larger scales, we are developing better conservation planning methods and tools that will allow us to plan across immense biologically defined regions like the Great Plains, as well as plan across the range of a particular ecological community like the longleaf pine forests of the Southeast. ....The Association for Biodiversity Information was established to unify, support, and represent the network of Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centres in the mission of collecting, interpreting, and disseminating ecological information critical to the conservation of the world's biological diversity. GIS is an important tool in their work....TNC Text Only State Listing ...

The Nature Conservancy Alaska, Anchorage c96 . (421 W. FIRST AVENUE, SUITE 200, ANCHORAGE, AK, 99501 , USA Phone: 907-276-3133 Fax: 907-276-2584 ) Our overall goal is to protect landscapes of global biological significance present in the Arctic subcontinent of Alaska. as well as those ecosystems which represent Alaska's rich natural heritage. Alaska's rare and unique ecosystems will be our first priority....The Conservancy was awarded a Conservation Technology Support Grant from Hewlett-Packard, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Environmental Systems Research Institute to develop a geographic information system (GIS) for the Kenai River watershed. The grant will cover computer hardware, software, and training. The Conservancy plans to load a wide array of information on the watershed into the GIS station. Integration of this diverse information, including landownership, habitat types and conditions, stream types, recreational uses, and other geographic information, will provide a valuable consolidated database for watershed-wide ecological analyses to use in developing conservation priorities for the whole watershed.

The Nature Conservancy California Cosumnes River Preserve, Ca e98e . (The Nature Conservancy, 13501 Franklin Blvd., Galt, CA 95632, Phone: 916-683-1700; FAX 916-683-1702; e-mail sblanchette@cosumnes.org GIS Contact: Valerie Calegari, vcalegari@cosumnes.org) "The Cosumnes is a small river whose headwaters rise at only 8,000' above sea level and whose course from the Sierra Nevada to the San Joaquin Delta is just 80 miles long. But the Cosumnes is far more important than its size would indicate. It is the only undammed river on the west slope of the Sierra, and in its lower reaches it flows through one of the biologically richest regions in California's Central Valley on its way to its confluence with the Mokelumne River and the San Joaquin Delta. The Cosumnes River Preserve was created to safeguard much of that landscape." see their Online Map . GIS STATUS: "My last grant was a scholarship to the 1998 ESRI Conference. At the conference, I met a number of people with whom I have kept in touch, and who have helped me to develop our GIS at the Preserve. I was inspired by a number of the posters displayed, and have used the ESRI Map book provided as a source for layout and graphics ideas in my own maps. ...The Cosumnes River Project is a multi-agency partnership which protects and restores riparian forest, seasonal wetlands, vernal pools, and wildlife-friendly agriculture in southern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Counties. The Preserve currently protects and manages 37,000 acres. We have been working with ArcView GIS here for the past year and a half. Thanks to the help of many of our partners, I have been able to develop a good digital library of base maps, including DEMs, DOQs, soils maps, parcel boundaries, waterways, floodplains, topographic maps, etc. ArcView has allowed me to make maps and provide analysis which have been extremely useful for determining our focus, purchasing fee and easement acquisitions...We have also found the GIS a critical tool for expressing our successes at the Project. With maps and tables, we have shown our partners, funders, policy makers and other land stewards just how we are managing the Preserve for biodiversity while supporting the local agricultural economy. The applications of this GIS are so varied that it has become overwhelming for us to undertake all the analysis necessary for the continued growth of this project, and further training is needed ...GIS has proven to be a reliable and powerful tool for managing and planning a preserve of this size and diversity. Maps and charts created with ArcView 3.1 have been used to demonstrate to our funders and partners just how their money is being spent. For example, by overlaying fish sampling sites on a digital ortho quad, our fish biologist was able to analyze and demonstrate differential fish use of restored floodplain, flooded forest, and sloughs. The results of his work have brought considerable attention and further funding to our restoration efforts. In another case, I offered our restoration coordinator a digital soils map overlaid with parcel boundaries, with acreage of potential restoration sites. This offered him a powerful tool for designing his planting regime and saved him hours of field work measuring plot sizes. "

TNC Conecticut, Middletown c95 . Today, the Connecticut Chapter has protected more than 26,000 acres across the state, maintains 57 local nature preserves, and currently has approximately 17,000 members. In 1993, it announced its most ambitious program to date: The Tidelands of the Connecticut River. ...One of America's great waterways, stretching 400 miles from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River is a truly unique resource. Its tidal region -- the lower river and its tributaries -- is one of the richest ecosystems in the northeast, providing habitat for hundreds of species, seven of them globally rare or endangered, and containing an extraordinarily unsullied wetland complex.

TNC Dakotas, Sioux Falls c96 . The state chapters of The Nature Conservancy of the Dakotas originated in 1961 in South Dakota and 1983 in North Dakota, with field offices established in 1994 and 1990, respectively. With over half of our prairies and woodlands lost to agricultural, commercial and urban development, the programs work hard to protect species at risk, such as the western prairie fringed orchid, tallgrass prairie and piping plovers. Our priority areas are the Black Hills, Sheyenne Delta, Missouri Coteau and Prairie Coteau. ...In all, we manage nearly 24,000 acres of premium pieces of North and South Dakota prairie, wetlands and woodlands on 14 nature preserves.

TNC Great Lakes Program, Chicago IL c97 . To protect the unique biodiversity of the Great Lakes basin, it was necessary to identify priority natural features and ecological processes of the larger landscape upon which to focus our collective activity; the most important threats to those features and processes of the larger ecoregion, and the best opportunities to build strategic, regional partnerships so that the work begun by the Conservancy could be sustained throughout the larger landscape. ...The result is The Nature Conservancy's Great Lakes Program: a collaborative effort of the seven state Conservancy chapters active in the basin, the ten Natural Heritage Data Centers around the basin in the U.S. and Canada, and the two regional offices which support the work of those entities. To coordinate the work of the partnership, and to build strategic partnerships in the region, a Great Lakes Program Office was opened in the fall of 1992. .

TNC Indiana Field Office, Indianapolis, IN e95 . (1330 W. 38th Street Indianapolis, IN 46208-4103) The Nature Conservancy of Indiana publishes a Guide to Indiana Nature Preserves and Projects, which contains location maps, descriptions and rare species occurences for each of the 144 natural areas the Indiana Chapter has protected between 1959 and 1995, for an acreage of 34,990 since 1959.

TNC Iowa, Des Moines c95 . ( 431 E. Locust, Suite 200, Des Moines, IA 50309 tel:(515) 244-5044 fax:(515) 244-8890 email:iafo@netins.net . GIS Contact, Gerald Selby ) "The Iowa Chapter of The Nature Conservancy focuses on preserving biological diversity throughout the state. There is some urgency in our mission to identify and preserve Iowa's remaining plants, animal, and natural communities since only a minuscule fraction of Iowa remains in a natural condition. ...The Chapter currently owns and/or manages 3425 acres in Iowa....One of the most dramatic products of the Chapter's new GIS system is the digitized aerial photograph. Although aerial photos have, been a stock in trade of both conservationists and farmers for a long time, these new photos have the ability to be "layered" into a composite visual data presentation that can show everything from roads and section lines to the current soil type and the original vegetation on the land. ...The Chapter has been selected to serve as the GIS coordinator for 4 the lowa River Corridor Project, a program to analyze and promote altemative uses of the highly flood-prone lands adjacent to the lowa River in central lowa....In addition to the lowa River Corridor Project, the Chapter has been using GIS to aid in the scientific analysis of forest quality being conducted in the lowa Woodlands and Forests Initiative, our joint project with Trees Forever and a number of governmental and academic institutions. GIS STATUS: "The Iowa Chapter is faced with the overwhelming task of protecting and preserving existing and threatened natural communities, systems and species in the most altered landscape in America, the agricultural heart of the Corn Belt. In two areas of Iowa, the western Loess Hills and the northeastern Paleozoic Plateau, we are engaged in the type of large and complex landscape scale projects that benefit most from the applications of Geographic Information Systems. In addition to these landscape scale projects, the Iowa Field Office also manages many smaller preserves scattered across Iowas fragmented landscape that play a critical role in preserving the full range of Iowaís natural biological diversity. Since its establishment in 1963, the Iowa Chapter has protected thousands of acres, and currently owns and/or manages 28 preserves totaling more 3,000 acres. As recipient of the advanced CTSP grant in 1995 we have been able to make significant strides in developing our GIS lab."

TNC Massachusetts Chapter, Nantucket , MA e95 .((617) 423 2545.) Acres Protected: 13,000, Membership: 25,185

TNC New Mexico,  Santa Fe c96 . New Mexico received official status as a chapter of The Nature Conservancy in 1978. Today, it has a membership base of more than 6,000. Working in partnership with other land managers, the chapter has been instrumental in protecting over 600,000 acres of New Mexico's natural habitats. ...The chapter's conservation work continues to focus on southwestern New Mexico. The Gila and Mimbres River watersheds are home to dozens of imperilled species, and the New Mexico Chapter places these areas as its highest priorities for protection within the state. ...The Flora of Nantucket: ...we now have an impressive map of the islands and their ecological communities.

TNC Ohio, Columbus c96 ...Working closely with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Ohio Chapter is bringing state-of-the-art land management practices to bear at Huffman Prairie near Dayton. We have developed a management plan for this biological treasure, and we're collaborating with the Department of Defense on its implementation. ...The Oak Openings region of northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan, harbors some of the most threatened natural communities and species in the Midwest. The unique natural qualities of this area are under tremendous pressure from a variety of sources including habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and ground water modification. ...The mission of the Oak Openings Working Group is to encourage cooperation, communication and education among the local community, public agencies and private organizations in order to create a better understanding and appreciation for the importance of conservation of the Oak Openings.

TNC Washington, Seattle c96 .(217 Pine Street Seattle WA 98101 USA tel:(206)343-4345 fax:(206)343-5608 . GIS Contact: Mark D Goering, email:mgoering@tnc.org ) ..The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to the preservation of plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. GIS STATUS: "The Nature Conservancy of Washington received a CTSP grant in 1996 and we have made great use of the equipment. GIS is an essential tool for what we do, whether it be multi-state ecoregional planning, site-conservation design, or measuring the success of exotic weed control on a ten acre site. GIS has become so essential to what we do that we can no longer support the chapters needs through a single, centralized lab. Our vision to have desktop GIS available to all science/stewardship staff in the state has created a lot of excitement and generated a lot of support. I have had the opportunity to introduce GIS to several of the Conservancy's offices in Texas and have found that it really does change the way people work. GIS will empower staff and promote self sufficiency, which in turn will allow our professional GIS personnel time to focus efforts on data creation, analysis and modeling. I expect that within one year ArcView will become as ubiquitous to our desktop as word processors and spreadsheets."

The Trust for Public Land, San Francisco , CA e91 . (116 New Montgomery Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: (415) 495-4014, Fax: (415) 495-4103 mailto:webmaster@tpl.org ) "The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national, nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, natural areas and open space. As a problem-solving organization, TPL works in partnership with government, business, and community groups to: acquire and preserve open space: to serve human needs; share knowledge of nonprofit land acquisition; and pioneer methods of land conservation and environmentally sound land use. Projects: Conservation ToolBox, "The Evergreen Agenda's Conservation Toolbox is an interactive workbook designed to help individuals and groups protect those open space parcels and natural systems treasured by their community. "; Green Cities Initiative, "...Its purposes are to increase public awareness of the vital role of parks and open space in the quality of urban life; generate funding to create, improve, and maintain urban parks, and protect public open spaces that are integral to a city's unique heritage."

Trustees of Reservations, Beverly MA c95 (The Trustees of Reservations, 572 Essex Street, Beverly, MA 01915 tel:(978)524-1875 GIS Contact: Vin Antil email:gis@ttor.org) "Since 1891, The Trustees of Reservations has been preserving the cultural and scenic treasures of Massachusetts. Of our 73 properties, seven are historic house museums that bring New England’s rich history to life. The remaining properties, open and unspoiled, offer maintained trails, superb views, and quite picnic spots - welcome refreshment in a busy world...GIS STATUS: The Trustees of Reservations continue to use GIS in three broad categories: public information (trail maps and publications), conservation planning (land acquisition and protection strategy), and land management (ecology planning and research). During the past year however,GIS has become even more integrated into the daily operations of The Trustees. ...We have completed 96 internal plot requests over the past year, many of which include multiple maps. Three new trail maps have been published for our properties. We have also donated our services to produce a trail map for The Manchester Conservation Trust, a small local land trust without GIS capabilities. . "

Wyoming Open Lands, Buffalo WY c97 . (340 Fort St. Buffalo, WY, 82834 tel:307-684-2133 fax: 307-684-2197 email:yopnlnds@wyoming.com . Nancy Geehan, Managing Director) "The use of computerized geographic information systems (GIS) by private landowners holds out considerable promise for those landowners who want to work together to maximize their respective real estate values while protecting their open lands character to the greatest possible extent. The University of Wyoming's Spatial Data and Visualization Center, in partnership with Wyoming Open Lands, is developing a unique application of GIS that is being used in private landowner collaborations. This practical and basic use of GIS allows landowners to map their various interests in protection of open space on their own land, as well as on neighbors' lands within their subdivision or watershed. Through this mapping process, private landowners are allowed to confidentially identify their interests and concerns. The landowners can then see, through layering all of the mapped landowner input, the potential for cooperative agreements with physical reference to their property. " see GIS - A Tool For Private Land Use Planning (ESRI 1997 paper)

Using a land trust to preserve green assets Earth-Friendly Living, By Mark Harris, 1997, LA Times, or go to http://www.enn.com/search/search.asp and search on "Earth-Friendly Living" or "Mark Harris" for a complete list.

The Santa Catalina Island Conservancy GIS Project Conservancy Membership Data Project, by William W. Bushing. "Although the Catalina Island Conservancy's Geographic Information System (GIS) was created largely to deal with ecological and facilities management issues, it can also be applied to any data that is "georeferenced," or provided with an accompanying geographic location. For example, Conservancy members all have a home address which can be conveniently represented in the GIS by their 5-digit ZIP code or more exactly by their street address....To get a better feel for membership within a region, a different type of GIS map may be produced which shows the actual number of Conservancy members in a given postal ZIP code area. " GIS program

Selected Nature Conservancy Scientific Data Sets .(Downloadable lists of taxonomic and conservation status information for the United States): Amphibians of the United States, Birds of the United States, Freshwater Fish of the United States (Coming Soon), Mammals of the United States, Reptiles of the United States

All text by the respective organizations/authors, January 2, 1997

Web layout & design: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. January 2, 1996