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Crucial Habitat Assessment Tools

Photo courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (see link at bottom of page)

 

RECENT UPDATES

WGA Wildlife Council developing west-wide wildlife map and display tool with map design firm Applied Geographics
January 2013

Regional Viewer Application -- System Architecture Vision
August 2012

Wyoming Launches Wildlife, Natural Resources Mapping Tool as Part of Larger WGA Effort
August 2012 

The Western Governors’ Wildlife Council is creating the Western Wildlife Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) for public release in 2013. The CHAT aims to bring greater certainty and predictability to planning efforts by establishing a common starting point for discussing the intersection of development and wildlife. In its simplest form, CHAT will be an easily accessible online system of maps displaying crucial wildlife habitat and corridors across the West.

While not intended for project-level approval, CHAT is designed to reduce conflicts and surprises while ensuring wildlife values are better incorporated into land use decision-making, as well as large-scale conservation projects.
 
 
 

layered maps

Progress to Develop CHAT

In 2010, supported by a $3 million grant from the Department of Energy, Western state wildlife agencies launched regional pilot projects to test guidance outlined in the Wildlife Council’s White Paper. The year-long pilot projects significantly supported coordination across political jurisdictions including inventorying common data, improving data development and data management, and increasing data sharing – all with the aim of identifying crucial habitat and corridors in a compatible manner across the West.

Based on significant knowledge gains from the pilot projects, in August 2011 the Wildlife Council refined their vision and established clearer milestones with a focus of developing the West-wide CHAT. Efforts over the next two years will provide publicly-available, regionally-compatible crucial habitat and corridor information by 2013. All the while, WGWC will continue to support the development of state-specific CHATs in individual states, as desired.

 

 

Timeline
 

The WGWC is nearing completion of the Western Governors' CHAT.

Present – Fall 2013:  States will complete development of Tier 1 data; apply crucial habitat definitions to data in a compatible manner; continue to build and improve upon individual state CHATs, as desired; and advise the WGWC on elements of the Western Governors' CHAT data viewer.

December 2013: Public launch of the Western Governors' CHAT.

 

 

Arizona's HabiMap

CHATs in Individual States

 

Arizona, California, Montana and Washington have already developed state-specific information and data on priority species and habitat, and the first multi-state system is now available that covers the range of the lesser prairie chicken. Progress to develop regional information in 2012 is referenced above, and other states are preparing to launch individual systems within the year. A West-wide CHAT is slated for debut in 2013.

 

 

 State  Tool  Contact
 Alaska  Fish Resource Monitor   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 Alaska Department of  Game and Fish 
 Arizona  HabiMap™ Arizona   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,
 Arizona Game & Fish
 California  Areas of Conservation Emphasis (ACE-II)   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,
 California Fish and  Game
 Montana  Crucial Areas Assessment and Planning System (CAPS)   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,
 Montana Fish, Wildlife  and Parks
 Washington   Priority Habitats and Species (PHS on the Web   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,
 Washington  Department of Fish  and Wildlife
 
 Wyoming  The Wyoming Interagency Spatial Database & Online Management  (WISDOM) System

  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,
 Wyoming Game and Fish

 Southern
 Great Plans
 Southern Great Plains CHAT (for lesser prairie chicken across range in  Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas)  Contacts available on  SGPCHAT website

 

 

Banner photo of moose courtesy of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.