GIS in the Colorado Division of Wildlife

Biological:• Species Activity Mapping• Field survey inventory support (PD’s, Otter, PMJM, etc)• Aquatic species sampling reports• Land cover classification• Water quality monitoring• Management & acquisition strategies• Data gathering, cleanup, display (CWD, Mt. Lion)• Report Materials/analysis (BTPD, Gunn SG)

GIS Group Supports agency statewide in several aspects related to GIS

Administrative:• Game Management Units (GMU/DAU)• Districts• Regions• Properties• DWM’s• Biologists

GIS in the Colorado Division of Wildlife

Engineering:• Inventory of properties • Maintenance schedule• Sharing information – CAD, Shapefiles, NAIP imagery

Public Services:• Front desk personnel• Call center• Walk-In Access Program• Bear Aware• Legal case support (evidence maps, poaching locations, etc)

Public:• SWA Visitor Maps and State Trust Lands• Interactive Maps – MapIt! Application

Data Sources & Uses

• GPS/Telemetry data• Land Status (CoMaP)• Vegetation – Riparian, Basinwide, Gap/ReGap• Species Distribution• Hydro• Properties/Parcels

• Custom Layers• Modeled data• Metadata!

Things to consider:

• Is data available?• Is data relevant?• Is data appropriate for what you intend?• Does data need to be created? How?

• When collecting GPS data, don’t just collect points – consider the final outcome of what you want to know and develop a naming convention

• Develop standards – field headings, attribute information, allow for expandability/continuation

• Organization/consistency – filing system, naming conventions, attribute headings/definitions, documentation of methods

• When acquiring data – is it appropriate for your use?

• Is the acquired data ‘good’?

• When creating data – develop ‘good’ data

• METADATA!

Some example of current projects at CDOW…

Think ahead!

House Bill 1298 Gives the DOW a voice in oil & gas permitting reviews and approvals, in order to protect Colorado’s wildlife resources. Signed into law on May 28, 2007 and requires COGCC to use best management practices when permitting O&G facilities & to consult with CDOW to reduce impacts from O&G operations development. Mandates operations are planned & managed in a manner that balances development with wildlife conservation in recognition of the State’s obligation to protect wildlife resources and the hunting, fishing, and recreation traditions they support – which are an important part of Colorado’s economy & culture.

Designed with the goal of protecting Colorado’s diverse wildlife, their habitats, and the ecosystems in which they live.

GIS Group Support for HB1298 & Issues:• Preliminary project came with very quick turn-around required• Somewhat of a moving target – data availability, updates, definitions & rules• Various parties involved – getting different answers due to above• Resistance to rules (temporary suspension of activity in sensitive areas)• Restricted surface occupancy – species involved & how to handle• Private vs. public property – same rules or not?• Wildlife in general vs. threatened/endangered• Federal vs. state regulations

Wildlife Modeling – Bighorn Sheep

Factors to consider for management plan:

• Suitable Habitat

• Winter Range

• Lambing Habitat

• Summer Range

• Escape Terrain

• Other uses

• Property Ownership

Managed as a game species as well as sensitive to certain outside influences (stress, domestic sheep grazing, etc)

Division of Wildlife Properties

• State Wildlife Areas• State Trust Lands (leases)• Conservation Easements

Process:• Real Estate request – develop map to present to Wildlife Commission for approval (acquisitions, changes to use, etc)• Parcel usually mapped from some sort of legal description• If approved, add to properties data base• Attributes help to sort by public properties or not open to public

Issues:• Deed may not be available or may be hard to read• Metes & bounds description may have errors or be in un-surveyed area so there is no good ‘Point of Beginning’• Moving target – properties are bought, sold, traded, opened, closed, etc• County parcel data – may not be available, may not align to our base, may not be current, may not be complete• Property may be managed differently on the ground than what is legally described

• Field survey at a variety of scales (~1:50,000)• Data compiled/updated since early 80’s• Four year update schedule (by region)• Includes species distributions and activities by species• Focus has been on Economic and T&E species (45 species)• Hope to add additional species – requires expert knowledge

Originally:• Mapped on mylar overlays on 1:50k base maps• Digitized from overlays

Now:• ‘Interactive whiteboard’ – Smartboard• Positive outreach to field personnel• ‘Real-time’ data updates• Contributors retain ‘ownership’ of data

Other uses for SmartBoard:• SWA facility mapping• Habitat Partnership Program (HPP) mapping

Species Activity Mapping