Tracking Program Activities with ArcGIS OnlineIndiana GIS Day - 2019

Jason Wade Mike MartinLandscape Biologist Agency GIS CoordinatorDivision of Fish & Wildlife Department of Natural Resources

September 17, 2019

Division of Fish and Wildlife – Private Lands Unit

• Who are we?• Staff of 19, located in 15 different office

locations around the state• What do we do?

• Assist private landowners with wildlife habitat establishment

• Point of contact for citizens with wildlife conflicts, wildlife disease concerns, or just general wildlife questions

• Organize workshops and training opportunities for people to learn about wildlife and habitats

• Many, many more things!

Challenges

• With biologists spread across the state, how do we keep track of what we are accomplishing?

• Consistent reporting and tracking• Strategic Plan• Grant reports• Individual program reports• Employee performance appraisals

• Can we collect useful information about our interactions with our constituents?

• Can we create a system that can eventually expand to everyone in the division?

There’s got to be a better way…

• The old way:• Excel spreadsheet• Tracks only how much we did• No information about where we did

it• No information about what we did

and how we helped• No information about specifically

when we did it• Only updated monthly

Name: District:

Access Re- Final FieldIncentive Inspections Inspections Days

HPA Other HPA Other HPA Other HPA Other0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 01 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 01 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 02 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0

0 Permit Permit Special0 Issued Renewal Permit0 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 01 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 0

HPA Other0 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.00

0 00 10 00 01 00 11 02 2

Prescribed Fire Wildlife Section MeetingPesticide Certification/CCH Division Meeting

Plant ID NRCS MeetingWetland Restoration SWCD Meeting

Totals: Totals:

ICTWS Workshop Law Enforcement MeetingNRCS Technical Assistance Assigned Committee Meeting

Other Other

Wildlife Watching Event CRP Fescue ConversionAssist With Implementation Pollinators

Develop, Direct and Conduct Non-CRP Fescue ConversionTotals: Idle Nesting/Brood-Rearing Cover

In-Service Training In-Service Meetings/Conferences

Other DFW Event Assitance Other 1 0Wildlife Surveys Totals: 1 0

Recruitment, Retention, Reactivation Work Plan Habitat Objective Acres

Manned Wildlife Booths Small Mammals 0 0Radio Shows Other Birds 0 0

Group Presentations Reptiles/Amphibians 0 0

Focus Articles Duck/Goose 0 0Outdoor Indiana Articles Exotic/Bear/Mt.Lion 0 0

Television Programs Coyote 0 0

Public Open Houses Species Telephone On-siteNews Articles Call Visit

Magazine Articles Deer 0 0

Continuous CRPCons. Res. Enhancement Program (CREP)

CRP GrasslandNon-Corridors (EQIP)

Corridors (EQIP)Wetlands Reserve Easement (WRE)

Totals:

Information & Education Nuisance Wildlife Complaints

Classified Wildlands ProgramPrivate Lands Habitat Assistance

Wildlife Habitat Cost-Share AgreementGame Bird Habitat Development Agreement

Game Bird Partnership Agreement

State Forest Management PlanFarm Bill ProgramsConservation Reserve Program (CRP)

Grasslands for Gamebirds & Songbirds EQIPCSP Grasslands for Gamebirds & Songbirds

VPA

Monthly Activity ReportDivision of Fish and Wildlife

Jason Wade NLB Month: February 2019

Habitat Development ProgramsLandowner On-site Plans Acres

Contacts Inspections Developed Affected

…but what does the better way look like?

• Our “need-to-have’s”• Must be able to easily generate reports• Must be easy for everyone to use

• Our “nice-to-have’s”• Accessibility from the field• Ability to submit attachments (.JPEG, .PDF)• Have the ability to expand to other DFW units in the

future• Ways to share data and information on public-facing

interfaces.

Building the System

• Goals• Address the needs • Ease of use by end users• Ease of management by steward• Minimize impact on resources

Building the System

• Questions, questions, questions• What do you want to know?• How do you want to see it?• How do you want to share it?• Who do you want to use it?• How do you want them to use it?• Where is the best place to keep the data?

Building the System

• Answers, answers, answers• What do you want to know? who does what where when• How do you want to see it? map, database, ArcGIS Desktop, AGOL• How do you want to share it? online, maps, reports, dashboards• Who do you want to use it? staff and management• How do you want them to use it? add their own data, view

system-wide and individual results in maps, reports, spreadsheets• Where is the best place to keep the data? in-house enterprise

database

Building the system• Build feature classes in enterprise

geodatabase• multiple datasets• domains• attachments• configured for editing with AGS

Building the system

• Published in ArcGIS Server as a secure, editable feature service

Building the system

• Added each feature service layer to AGOL

• security credentials stored• shared to the DFW group• gave ownership to Jason

Building the system

• Webmap• Web Apps• Dashboards

What information are we collecting?

• Points• Landowner Habitat Contacts• Wildlife Contacts

• Conflicts• Sick/Disease• General Inquiries

• Staff Activities• Polygons

• Habitat projects• Burn Plans• Access Programs• Habitat Team Activities

Entering Data

• In the office using a Webmap• This seems to be the preferred choice for

most biologists• Connectivity can sometime be an issue

• In the field using Collector for ArcGIS• A lot of people forget that this is an option• Not the most user-friendly option for

entering polygons

So what does it look like???

What else can we learn from all this data?

• We can start to learn not just what we are doing, but also where.

• Can be used to determine staffing levels and locations in the future

• Can be used to inform “landowner interest” models

• Can be used to inform future decisions regarding LCIs and conservation priority areas

• Can be used to locate possible wildlife disease or conflict “hotspots”

• Can be used to spot possible “underserved” areas of the state

Wildlife Contacts Habitat Contacts

What’s next?

• Integrating other DFW units• Creating or feeding into a larger

Wildlife Information System• Filtering and displaying

information for the public to consume

• Bringing our wildlife biometrician and other wildlife researchers in to dive even deeper into the data.

Wildlife Information System

Wildlife Research

Species/Habitat Relationship Information

Individual Species Information

Permitting

Public Lands Database Hunter/Fisher/Trapper Information

Private Lands Database

Wildlife Conflict and Disease Trends

Private Landowner Program Information

Questions?

Jason Wade, Landscape BiologistIndiana Department of Natural ResourcesDivision of Fish and Wildlifejwade@dnr.in.gov260-468-2515

Mike Martin, Agency GIS CoordinatorIndiana Department of Natural ResourcesMIS Divisionmmartin@dnr.in.gov317-232-4068