2016 conservation track: identifying key wetlands areas in the rio grande national forest by alison gallensky and aaron hall

Identifying Key Wetlands Areas in the Rio Grande National ForestAlison GallenskyGIS and IT Director

Aaron Hall, PhDRepresentative, Rockies and Plains

@aarohall

GIS in the Rockies 2016

2 The Project What: Identify high quality wetlands

and wetlands complexes Where: Rio Grande National Forest,

Colorado Why: so they can be protected When: As part of the current Forest

Plan revision process How: use a combination of

Geographic Information System modeling and analysis, expert input, and site visits

And: come up with an approach that can be used in other areas.


3 Outline

Wetlands – Aaron Forest Planning – Alison Wetlands Analysis – Aaron and Alison


4 Wetland building blocks

?

?

abiotic

biotic


5 Wetlands, why do we care?

Wetlands are important? Ecosystem services (quality and quantity)

Water storage Carbon sequestration Water filtration

Plant and animal habitat 90% of species

25% on public lands (lower 48) Opportunity!


6 National Forests

The United States Forest Service is a division of the federal government that manages National Forests

There are 155 National Forest covering almost 190 million acres of forests and grasslands in the United States (8.5% percent of land in the United States).

There are 15 National Forests in Colorado covering over 13 million acres (20% of land in Colorado).

The Rio Grande National Forest covers 1.86 million acres in southwest Colorado.


7 Forest Planning

Every National Forest must develop and maintain an effective management plan.

The Forest Service is required to involve the public in forest planning.

The Forest Service must develop and update a 10 to 15 year plan for how it would manage the land and resources in each individual national forest.

All management activities in the national forest must be consistent with the forest plan.

The Rio Grande National Forest is in the process of updating its plan.

Divide Ranger District - North Clear Creek Falls, water tumbling over a rock cliff. West of Creede, Highway 149.


8 Wetlands Analysis: Public Lands

Goal: identify important wetlands and wetland complexes High value

Ecosystem services Biotic habitat

Including “watershed” area

Simple GIS analysis Readily available data Portable to other landscapes


9 Methods

Start with NWI data Assess variables

8 abiotic 15 biotic (43 species identified)

Additive scoring system No rankings/weightings

Rank scored by HUC12 Document conflicts


10 Abiotic Variables

Wetland size Adjacency Network Headwaters Springfed (2) Carbon sequestration Human modification

Rio Grande Reservoir, fall foliage, West of Creede, Highway 149, US Forest Service

11 Biotic Variables

Boreal toad Bald eagle Gunnison sage-grouse Osprey Peregrine falcon Rio Grande chub Rio Grande cutthroat trout

Xanthus skipper Altai cottongrass Arizona willow Northern moonwort Philadelphia fleabane Smith’s whitlowgrass Southern Rocky Mountain cinquefoil

Gunnison sage-grouse Northern moonwort Xanthus skipperGIS in the Rockies 2016

12 Data Sources

Data Set Source Contents Used in Analysis

National Wetlands Inventory

US Fish & Wildlife Service Wetlands/Characteristics

National Hydrology Database

USGS Streams/Rivers/Springs

National Map USGS SpringsNHD Plus EPA/USGS Stream OrderElement Occurrences

Colorado Natural Heritage Program

Animal and Plant Sightings

Potential Conservation Areas

Colorado Natural Heritage Program

Habitat for Sensitive Species

Wildlife Habitat Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission/Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Animal Habitat Areas


13 Results



14 Results – Score by HUC12

15 Results


16 Caveats?


17 Thank You/Questions



18 Contact Information

Aaron HallRockies and Plains RepresentativeDefenders of [email protected]

Alison GallenskyGIS and IT DirectorRocky Mountain [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Technology

2016 conservation track: identifying key wetlands areas in the rio grande national forest by alison gallensky and aaron hall