Working Lands for Wildlife
Aquatic Connectivity Framework
AquaCorridors Tool Suite
Overview
Table of Contents
[] Background
[] Why Build this Tool Suite?
[] Tool Descriptions + Technical Process
Background
BackgroundFor aquatic conservation to be successful, a multitude of disparate conservation groups, federal agencies, and university research teams must work together. When each entity contributes valuable expertise and resources, there is real potential for conservation e!orts to be successful. This opportunity catalyzed Working Lands for Wildlife’s development of the AquaCorridors Tool Suite: a collection of interactive tools designed to foster active cooperation among conservation experts.
How does the AquaCorridors Tool Suite Connect to the Aquatic Connectivity Framework?
The AquaCorridors Tool Suite is built around the planning process conducted as part of the Aquatic Connectivity Framework. States participating in the framework were asked what conservation practices they planned to implement over the next five years. Those conservation practices were then used as the building blocks of the Planner and Handbook. Additionally, partners that are helping to develop the Aquatic Connectivity Framework were consulted in the scoping process of this tool suite.
Why Build this Tool Suite?
What problems did we set out to solve?
Scoping
Phase
Findings
In the scoping phase for this project we identified the following gaps for successful aquatic conservation on a landscape scale:
Conservation partner organizations want to work with NRCS but:
Don't know which Farm Bill Conservation Practices achieve their goals, making it hard to write e!ective grant applications.
Have di"culty understanding di!erent NRCS and FSA programs and funding sources that they might be eligible for.
Conservation Organizations:
Don't know where other groups are working near them. Making it more likely that groups are working in silos. –
Have di"culty quickly accessing data about what at-risk species are in their area. –
Want aggregated information about aquatic landscape conditions that can be used in a report or grant application.
How the AquaCorridors Tool Suite tackled these challenges:
Challenge One: Conservation partner organizations often don't know which Farm Bill Conservation Practices achieve their goals, making it hard to write e!ective grant applications
What the AquaCorridors Tools Do:
The Planner connects users' specific conservation concerns to conservation practices that e!ectively address these issues. By generating a heatmap matrix, the Planner organizes practices to spotlight those that align best with multiple conservation goals.
The Handbook serves as a companion resource, providing clear, user-friendly information on these conservation practices and comprehensive resources for deeper exploration. Designed to bridge knowledge gaps, the Handbook enables users to search practices based on specific conservation threats or benefits.
Sample Heatmap Matrix Generated by AquaCorridors Planner
Challenge Two: Conservation Groups have di!culty understanding di"erent NRCS and FSA programs and funding sources they might be eligible for
What the AquaCorridors Tools Do:
The Handbook has a section that partner organizations can use to learn about FSA and NRCS programs. This section has summaries of major programs and links to important resources and fact sheets.
Examples of Funding Information Available in the AquaCorrdiors Handbook
Challenge Three: Conservation organizations don't know where other groups are working near them. Making it more likely that groups are working in silos.
What the AquaCorridors Tools Do:
The Data Layer Library and Mapper have a data layer that shows priority areas for di!erent conservation groups. In the pop-up for these priority areas users can find information about the organization, priority area, and how to contact the group. This layer is intended as a dynamic layer that will grow as the tool is disseminated and new groups ask to join. The tool currently displays data from Working Lands For Wildlife (WLFW), National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI), Southeast Aquatic Resource Partnership (SARP), and the US Forest Service (USFS).
Example of Partner Organization Priority Area Information
Available in the Data Layer Library and Mapper
Challenge Four: Conservation organizations have di!culty quickly accessing data about what at-risk species are in their area
What the AquaCorridors Tools Do:
The Data Layer Library and Mapper have a data layer that shows at-risk aquatic species by watershed that also identifies which of these species are listed as regional species of greatest concern (RSGCN).
Challenge Five: Conservation groups want aggregated information about aquatic landscape conditions that can be used in a report or grant application.
What the AquaCorridors Tools Do:
The Mapper creates a way for users to generate a csv report of conditions in their area that includes data such as: impaired waters, at-risk species, other organizations working nearby, low-head dams, and metrics from the Aquatics Conservation Blueprint.
The Tools
Overviews and Technical Descriptions
The AquaCorridors Tool Suite:
Planner
Mapper
Planner
The Planner asks users about their specific conservation needs and then generates a heatmap matrix of NRCS conservation practices that are a match for that need.
Process for Creating: Planner
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To build the planner the team began by generating a list of Conservation Practices that the 16+ states participating in the Aquatic Connectivity Framework said they were planning over FY 2024-2029. From this base list of Conservation Practices, the team used the NRCS Conservation Practice Physical E!ects (CPPE) matrix to connect each Conservation Practice to its respective conservation benefits and threats. We then used a D3, javascript, and html to build an app that would visualize this data for users.
Handbook
The AquaCorridors: Handbook allows users to learn about Conservation Practices used in the Aquatic Connectivity Framework, explore NRCS and FSA funding opportunities, and access a range of decision support tools designed to enhance aquatic conservation e!orts. This tool lets users search by threat, by desired conservation benefits, or by conservation practice. The tool hopes to make NRCS jargon understandable to everyone working on aquatic conservation.
Process for Creating: Handbook
------Conservation Practices
To build the Handbook the team used the data about conservation practices, threats, and benefits used to build the planner and organized it into a wiki format using the software obsidian. The team then added additional information to each conservation practice, pulling information and practice standards from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, and Farmers.gov.
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Funding Information
The team added funding information to the tool, pulling information from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, and Farmers.gov.
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Decision Support Tool
Directory
During the scoping phase for the AquaCorridors Tool Suite we catalogued the best decision support tools related to aquatic conservation that we came across. We added these to the Aquatic Handbook.
Data Layer Library
Inside the AquaCorridors Data Library, users can explore a curated collection of high-quality datasets focused on aquatic conservation pulled from various sources. The Data Layer Library brings together valuable data from agencies and NGOs, providing a comprehensive resource for environmental decision-making.
Mapper
The AquaCorridors: Mapper can be used to explore and export data for specific areas of interest, including information on endangered species by watershed, partner organization priority areas and contact information, and key landscape conditions. This tool is designed in part to assist conservation partners who are in the process of compiling information for reports and/or grant applications.
Process for Creating: Data Layer Library & Mapper
The data layer library and mapper use ArcGis Online Instant Apps. These applications were customized and then embedded into the Landscape Partnership's plone content management system. The two applications use the same base spatial data.
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Landscape Context Layers
These tools pull spatial data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership, US Geological Survey, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, US Forest Service, and Natureserve.
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At-Risk Species Layer
This dataset was created by filtering the NaturesServe US map of At-Risk Species by County or Watershed dataset. Our group filtered by conservation status and has included species that are considered imperiled and/or critically imperiled on a sub-national or global level (G1, G2,S1, S2). A summary of all species included in this dataset can be found . We have also indicated whether or not those species are listed as Southeast Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SE RSGCN) species. here -----
Partner Priority Areas
For this data layer we added priority areas given to us by partner organizations and/or priority areas that are publicly available through the ArcGis Online directory. The priority areas available in the tool suite upon the launch of the project include: Working Lands For Wildlife (WLFW), National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI), Southeast Aquatic Resource Partnership (SARP), and the US Forest Service (USFS).
