Building a NonFramework Layer that Follows the NSDI Model

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Protected Areas Database of the United States
PAD-US
Building a Non-Framework Layer that Follows the
NSDI Model
February 23, 2009 Michael Terner, Applied
Geographics, Inc. Alexa McKerrow, USGS GAP Program
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Overview

• What are protected lands data?
• Who needs them and why do they matter?
• Description of the PAD-US project and partnership
• The role of the states
• Similarities to NSDI challenges

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Protected Areas Are Diverse

• Big landscapes, wilderness
• Large parks and working landscapes
• Urban open space and parks
• Marine areas eventually. . .
• Protected for many purposes
• Biodiversity
• Recreation
• Resource use, etc.

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Why Do We Need Better Data?

• Planning
• Open space
• Recreation
• Land use and facility siting
• New acquisition
• Biodiversity
• Prioritization
• Threats
• Progress
• Global reporting needs
• World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC)
• International Union for Conservation of Nature
  (IUCN)
• Etc.

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Whats Going On Now?

• 80-90 of protected areas are mapped
• BUT
• Not so good below state owned
• Not so spatially accurate
• No clear standards
• Issues about conservation ranking
• No sustainable funding to maintain

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Case studyWhy Does USGS Gap Need Better Data?

• Gap Analysis Program (GAP)
• GAPs mission is to promote biodiversity
  conservation by developing and sharing
  information on where species and natural
  communities occur and how they are being managed
  for their long-term survival

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GAP Stewardship Objectives

• Obtain public land ownership boundaries
• Aggregate internal management boundaries and
  obtain management plans for each mapped land unit
  
• Assign measures of biodiversity management status
  to each mapped land unit
• Using a GAP status code

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GAP protection concepts The lower the number,
the better for biodiversity conservation
Land unit having permanent protection and a
mandated management plan within which disturbance
events are allowed to proceed or are mimicked
through management
Land unit having permanent protection but which
may receive use or management practices that
degrade quality of existing natural communities
Status 2
Land unit with lack of irrevocable easement or
mandate to prevent conversion of natural habitat
(or unknown)
Status 4
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Analysis Uses of Protected Areas information

• Where are the lands that protect biodiversity?
  Who owns and manages these lands?
• Of any given habitat of interest, how much is
  protected?
• Of any species, or group of species, how much of
  their distribution is protected?
• What lands would best complement existing system
  of parks and reserves in your area of interest
• What species and habitats arent well represented
  currently?

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Completing the Sage Grouse Gap Analysis
Sage Grouse Distribution
Conservation Lands
Centrocercus urophasianus
Protection is currently lt6 of its western range.
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Incorporating other concepts of protection
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State by State Approach to National Database and
Move to PAD-US

• Standardization occurs through coordination,
  standards, and hopefully, automation
• Coordination is time and labor intensive
• Standards tend to evolve over time
• Future prospects for GAP, through PAD-US
• Improved consistency and accuracy of state data,
  including standardized Master Stewardship list
• Synthesis of protection concepts

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Current State of the Art

• Two nationwide data sets
• USGS Gap Stewardship (GAPUS)
• CBI PAD databases
• Version 1, 1999 Currently releasing Version 5
• Funding from USGS, WWF, Air National Guard, USFS,
  Moriah Fund, etc.
• Assembled and hand crafted from numerous
  sources, including states
• Both have a biodiversity orientation
• Periodic releases
• Additional regional efforts
• TNC has assembled a rich multi-state database for
  the northeast

Sample of Consumers
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Current State of the States

• Wide Variety of Status
• Which lands are included?
• State only?
• County/local lands?
• Accuracy of mapping?
• Variety of Data Custodians
• MA MassGIS, 1 dedicated FTE
• UT State Trust Lands
• VA Natural Heritage Program
• VA-DCR participates on database standards and
  structures work group
• CA Published and maintained by private
  non-profit GreenInfo Network
• Original funding State, Private Foundation
• No ongoing funding to maintain

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Challenges Complexities

• Putting 50 puzzle pieces together
• Same as with NSDI
• Boundary issues
• Level of spatial aggregation
• Different scale/accuracy practices
• Conflicting linework between contributors
• Thinking about a future with nationwide parcels
• Lack of standards
• Or even uniform nomenclature

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Challenges Complexities

• These are inherently complex data
• Its much more difficult than it sounds!
• Overlapping designations
• Degree of overlap impacts conservation
  measurement
• Accounting for water
• Which coastline?
• Donut-holes vs. overlap vs. embed

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Out of this comes the PAD-US Project

• USGS Gap Doris Duke Foundation funding
• CBI USGS Gap are key team members
• Project facilitation by GreenInfo Network
• Orchestrated similar effort for CA
• AppGeo as a technical sub-contractor
• Project Steering Committee also includes
• The Nature Conservancy, BLM, USFS
• Technical Workgroups also include
• VA-DCR, National Geographic, NatureServe, IUCN

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PAD-US Objectives Elements

• Create database structure and standards
• Create a business plan
• Establish partnerships (NGO and government)
• Design data integration processes
• Strong support for state efforts
• Foster improved coordination among federals
• Secure next step support
• Endorsements, funding

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PAD-US ElementsConceptual Data Integration
Architecture

• Collection of existing data
• From states
• Federal agencies
• NGOs
• Long range, increasing levels of automation
• Reduce/eliminate handwork
• Repeatable processes

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PAD-US ElementsDatabase Standards

• Geometric and topological data model and schema
• Most likely some form of GeoDB feature classes
  and sub-types
• Database attributes and coding
• Minimum required attributes
• Related tables
• Value added conservation measurement assignment

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PAD-US ElementsDatabase Standards

• There are 100s of types of protected lands
• Fee-owned vs. proclaimed vs. designated
• 100s of different ownerships
• Common coding for ownership and protection level
  is required for national mapping
• To enable better symbology, query and reporting
• USGSs Master Stewardship List (MSL) provides a
  model for more uniform coding
• Ongoing work to further develop and refine
• PAD-US will eventually implement an MSL code
• Initially, contributed data will be crosswalked
  into the MSL
• Over time, standard may be adopted by others

Samples taken from crosswalks completed as part
of PAD-US pilot project assessing CBI-PAD data
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The Master Stewardship List
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PAD-US ElementsOne Database, Many Products

• Optimized for data management
• Automated integration of contributed data

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State InvolvementNow and In the Future

• Currently
• State input through technical committees VA, OR
  and CO have participated
• Many states have populated the project web-site
  state profile
• In the future
• Further input on design from State GIS Programs
  (not just Natural Heritage programs)
• Formal data sharing partnerships
• Consideration of elements of the PAD-US standard
  that work for states
• Funding support to states to foster the creation
  of better state inventories

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Timeline

• April 2009 partnership, database design,
  initial version 1 PAD-US
• Dec. 2009 version 1.1, work plan and funding
  for major push at 2.0
• CBI and USGS GAP efforts come together
• 2010-11 develop full PAD-US (new data
  structure, full data), expand partnership and
  ongoing funding
• Full implementation would include incentive
  funding to help states build statewide
  inventories that can feed PAD-US

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Sound Familiar? Its just like NSDI!

• Excellent national data assembled from state and
  local contributions
• Key question for NSDI, what happens when the 7
  framework layers are done?
• What comes next for NSDI?
• Protected lands (our vote, anyway)
• Structures
• Critical infrastructure
• Etc.
• How do we get state participation?
• Once complete, can PAD-US standard be considered
  for adoption by FGDC?

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Thank you

• Questions?
• Michael Terner
• Applied Geographics, Inc.
• mgt_at_AppGeo.com
• Alexa McKerrow
• USGS GAP Program
• alexa_mckerrow_at_ncsu.edu
• Project Information, please contact
• Larry Orman, GreenInfo Networklarry_at_greeninfo.org
  
• http//www.protectedlands.net