Crucial Habitat Assessment Tools
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Regional Viewer Application -- System Architecture Vision Wyoming Launches Wildlife, Natural Resources Mapping Tool as Part of Larger WGA Effort |
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.
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.
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 |
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, Alaska Department of Game and Fish |
| Arizona | HabiMap™ Arizona |
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, Arizona Game & Fish |
| California | Areas of Conservation Emphasis (ACE-II) |
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, California Fish and Game |
| Montana | Crucial Areas Assessment and Planning System (CAPS) |
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, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks |
| Washington | Priority Habitats and Species (PHS on the Web) |
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, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife |
| Wyoming | The Wyoming Interagency Spatial Database & Online Management (WISDOM) System |
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| 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.