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HomeNewsNews 2013Western Governors’ Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) for wildlife nearing completion

Western Governors’ Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) for wildlife nearing completion

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CHAT Map AugustThe Western Governors’ Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT), an online GIS map of wildlife habitat across 16 western states designed to help planners in the energy, transportation and land use arenas, is nearing completion.

The Western Governors’ Wildlife Council (WGWC) recently approved design approaches, finalized documents and reviewed strategies to prepare for the public launch of CHAT at the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) Winter Meeting, Dec. 11-12 in Las Vegas.

The Wildlife Council, at its recent summer meeting, also discussed next steps for ensuring that the CHAT serves its intended audience of industry, federal agencies and the public. 

Five state-specific CHATs already are available to the public online in Arizona, California, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. Additionally, a CHAT displays Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat across its five-state range in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. State CHATs in Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon will be released later this year. (The CHATs shown here are draft versions.)

CHAT Map Alaska AugustThe Wildlife Council reviewed its updated White Paper that details the region-wide products and processes used to create compatible crucial habitat layers across state boundaries.  This White Paper (download) also provides background on the Governors' creation of the Council in 2008 and its work to date. 

Representatives from the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service joined the Wildlife Council for a discussion of next steps to better integrate state wildlife data into federal decision making and other wildlife-related topics.  The federal representatives recognized the CHAT as a tool that could assist with cross-state federal planning efforts.

A full recap of the discussion and action items from the meeting can be downloaded here, or you can learn more about the Wildlife Council and find the council's Work Plan, White Paper and Meeting Summary on the WGA website.