In the 2012 President's Budget Request, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is terminated. As a result, all resources, databases, tools, and applications within this web site will be removed on January 15, 2012. For more information, please refer to the NBII Program Termination page.
The Southwest region is composed of a diverse set of ecosystems, ranging from arid deserts to snow-capped mountains. These ecosystems are all affected to some degree by these ecological topics:
Fire
Wildland fire plays an important role in shaping ecosystems of the region.
Invasive Species
Invasive species can displace native plants and animals, often with devastating effects.
Water and Drought
Water is an essential resource that supports plant, animal, and human communities across the region.
Wildlife Disease
Diseases such as chronic wasting disease and whirling disease have regionally-important effects on both ecosystems and economies.
West-wide Energy Corridors on Public Lands
Electric towers at sunset [Photo: Warren Gretz, National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Photographic Information eXchange Collection]
The U.S. Department of Energy, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Defense prepared a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to evaluate issues associated with the designation of energy corridors on federal lands in eleven Western states. The Draft PEIS was issued in Fall 2007 and the Final West-wide Energy Corridor Programmatic EIS was made available in Fall 2008.
![Electric towers at sunset [Photo: Warren Gretz, NREL]](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/nbii/20120110082729im_/http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_7222_1843_6701_43/http%3B/cbi-lap7.cbi.cr.usgs.gov%3B7097/publishedcontent/publish/geographic/southwest/swin_wafer_in_the_news/west_wide_energy_corridors_on_public_lands_1.jpg)
