NEW TOOLS IMPROVE DECISION MAKING FOR CONSERVATIONISTS AND COMMUNITIES

BY DAN COKER, SENIOR SPATIAL SCIENTIST, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MAINE

As the senior spatial scientist at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Maine, I work with a lot of information every day— information that is painstakingly collected by TNC, along with state and federal agencies, and other sources as well. That data can help us answer questions. How large or constricted is a road-stream crossing? Where are roads, houses and businesses that may be impacted by a rising ocean? How extensive is a tidal marsh and what is surrounding it? To find answers, we need to translate this information into something other than tens of thousands of numbers on a spreadsheet.

That’s where spatial science comes in. Working with colleagues, I use all that information to create maps using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The results provide a visual representation of the real world around us. Environmental professionals benefit from getting this view of the data and interacting with it to make project decisions. But not everyone is a GIS expert!

Appreciating the need for a more accessible and interactive experience, TNC Maine teamed up with partners to develop the TNC Maine Mapping Portal, a multi-functional hub of interactive information designed to provide user-friendly views generated with all the information available about a number of conservation topics.

The Portal includes a Culvert Flood Risk Explorer that predicts the risk level of potential road flooding at road-stream crossings all over the state. There’s an Aquatic Barrier Prioritization tool, designed to support the river restoration community in identifying in-stream barriers for removal or improved fish passage. The Coastal Risk Explorer shows how rising sea levels will affect roads in coastal cities and towns, illustrating where road networks will be inaccessible to emergency responders and how that relates to the overall social vulnerability of the community. And the Future Habitat Explorer predicts how tidal marshes on Maine’s coast are likely to change as sea level rises. This can facilitate better decisions about development and land conservation.

So far, this one-stop-shop approach to decision-aiding, web-based tools has been used with great success by a host of partners working to restore and conserve the amazing natural resources that Mainers enjoy. Municipal managers and planners can better understand how climate change will impact their communities and take steps to prepare. Conservation groups can prioritize restoration projects that have the best chance of achieving their goals. Coastal land trusts can work to protect areas that are most likely to see expansion of critical tidal marsh habitat.

I invite fellow conservationists, community planners, agency staff, and tribal leaders to visit the TNC Maine Mapping Portal and discover resources that may help you in your work! It's another valuable tool in the toolkits of everyone working to restore and conserve the special places around us. Find it at maps.tnc.org/maine.