Friday, July 29, 2011

Vegetation Characterization Products Now Available for Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave
National Park

USGS-National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Characterization Program (VCP) documentation for Mammoth Cave National Park has been completed and is available on the VCP Web site. Mammoth Cave National Park products include aerial photography - graphic of orthophoto mosaic, and flight line index; project report - vegetation description and key, Cumberland-Piedmont network report - photointerpretation, GIS operations; accuracy assessment report - accuracy assessment methods and results; field data - graphic of field plots, field plots database, physical descriptive for plots, species list for plots, and plot and AA photos; geospatial vegetation information - graphics of vegetation communities, geodatabase ; accuracy assessment information - graphic of accuracy assessment points, and contingency matrix; metadata, and a link to NPS information about Mammoth Cave National Park. The goal of the VCP is to classify and map the vegetation communities of National Parks that have a natural resource component. Complete documentation is currently available for one hundred fifteen park units and two U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge units. The VCP is managed by the USGS Center for Biological Informatics in cooperation with the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program. The USGS Vegetation Characterization effort includes the management and upkeep of the VCP protocols, Web-based access to the standards, and the Web-based access to NPS Vegetation Characterization program finished products.

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) to be Featured in The Wildlife Professional

On July 22, Dr. Gerald “Stinger” Guala, Director of Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), was interviewed by a writer-reporter from The Wildlife Professional about ITIS and its relevance to wildlife professionals. ITIS provides authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world. The article will also feature others who can comment on the value of ITIS to their work. ITIS is one of the core components of the USGS Biological Informatics Program. The Wildlife Professional is distributed to all members of The Wildlife Society, whose members specialize in the management, conservation, and study of wildlife populations and habitats.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Access Newsletter Goes Electronic

The USGS Biological Informatics Program published its final print issue of the Access newsletter for Spring 2011 and created its first electronic edition, now emanating from USGS Core Science Systems. Starting this summer, Access will be exclusively electronic.  To subscribe to the new Access, send your e-mail address to ron_sepic@usgs.gov.

To see the new Access newsletter, go to www.usgs.gov/core_science_systems/access.  The online version contains the full-text for all of the Spring 2011 issue's articles.

Benefits of the new Access include: broader coverage (addresses data management issues for biology and many other disciplines); more in-depth articles; four-color graphics; issues to be searchable through the award-winning search engine, Raptor.  Access articles are now available through Facebook, Twitter, and via RSS feed; and have only a tiny carbon footprint. Don't miss an issue of the new Access newsletter!

GAP Helps Promote Great Outdoors

Mapping the Nation: GIS for Federal Progress 
and Accountability showcases many
ways that federal government agencies 
rely on GIS analysis and maps.  Map image
and text from the GAP Analysis website,
"Mapping the Nation" page.
USGS Core Science Systems' Gap Analysis Program (GAP), which provides important biodiversity data as well as information regarding the protection status of native U.S. species, has been actively involved in Secretary Salazar's efforts to promote the President's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.  As the Secretary and his senior staff visited the Governors of each state this spring, their briefing materials included GAP maps illustrating the State’s Federal and State land ownership boundaries.  The maps were created by expert cartographers and wildlife ecologists in the GAP Moscow, Idaho office using GAP Protected Areas and Species Distribution databases.  These colorful and informative maps will soon be available to the public in large and small formats on the Gap Analysis Web site.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Dan Ashe Sworn In as New Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Photo Caption: Dan Ashe
swearing in ceremony.

Credit: Tami Heilemann/USFWS

The USGS Biological Informatics Program (BIP) extends its congratulations and welcome to Daniel M. Ashe, the new  director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Mr. Ashe was formally nominated by President Obama, and was just recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 16th Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sec. Salazar praised Mr. Ashe on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website, saying:

"Dan has served with distinction and integrity in the Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 15 years. He has worked tirelessly to prepare the Service to meet the resource challenges of the 21st century, and his leadership and vision have never been more necessary," said Salazar. "I’m excited to work with him to foster innovative science-driven conservation programs and policies to benefit our nation’s fish and wildlife and its habitat."

Mr. Ashe's previous experience includes serving as the chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System, where he directed operation and management of the 150 million-acre system, and serving as the Fish and Wildlife Service’s assistant director for external affairs, where he directed the agency’s programs in legislative, public, and Native American affairs, research coordination, and state grants-in-aid.  Prior to joining the Service, Ashe served as a member of the professional staff of the former Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Biological Informatics Program (BIP) has a number of partnerships and collaborative efforts with the Fish and Wildlife Service, including the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE), species pages for the USFWS Migratory Bird Programs Focal Birds Species, the Tricolored Blackbird Portal, and regional and national syntheses of Species of Greatest Conservation Need identified in the State Wildlife Action Plans, and many others.  We look forward to continuing these and other collaborations in the future.

Read the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Press Release >>
Watch the YouTube video of Dan Ashe being sworn in >>

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Vegetation Characterization Products Now Available for Cowpens National Battlefield and Ninety Six National Historic Site

Ninety Six National
Historic Site
USGS-National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Characterization Program (VCP) documentation for Cowpens National Battlefield and Ninety Six National Historic Site has been completed and is available on the VCP Web site h and . Cowpens National Battlefield and Ninety Six National Historic Site products include aerial photography - graphic of orthophoto mosaic, and flight line index; project report - vegetation description and key, Cumberland-Piedmont network report - photointerpretation, GIS operations; accuracy assessment report - accuracy assessment methods and results; field data - graphic of field plots, field plots database, physical descriptive for plots, and species list for plots; geospatial vegetation information - graphics of vegetation communities, geodatabase, and plot and AA photos; accuracy assessment information - graphic of accuracy assessment points, and contingency matrix; metadata, and a link to NPS information about Cowpens National Battlefield and Ninety Six National Historic Site. The goal of the VCP is to classify and map the vegetation communities of National Parks that have a natural resource component. Complete documentation is currently available for one hundred fourteen park units and two U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge units. The VCP is managed by the USGS Center for Biological Informatics in cooperation with the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program. The USGS Vegetation Characterization effort includes the management and upkeep of the VCP protocols, Web-based access to the standards, and the Web-based access to NPS Vegetation Characterization program finished products.