SEAWEAD - Applying Wildlife Habitat Studies in Southeast Alaska

In the winter and spring of 2004 we created maps for The Nature Conservancy in their successful efforts to purchase several large tracks of high value wildlife and recreation habitat in Gustavus. We are now providing GIS support in their efforts to manage these lands for the benefit of wildlife and Gustavians alike.

In the winter and spring of 2004 we provided GIS support for the mapping of the Dude Creek Critical Habitat Area and its surrounding habitats.

During the winter of 2004-05 we served on a scientific advisory committee for an Audubon society/TNC modeling project that is looking at prioritizing areas for conservation efforts.

During the 2005 field season we provided field support for a USFWS project comparing song bird diversity and abundance in a variety of forest stand types, including post harvest thinning.

During the winter of 2004-05 we provided extensive GIS support for the Sitka Conservation Society (SCS). Their long-time GIS technician left the organization for change of environments so SCS hired us to help reorganize their GIS, create functional maps for ongoing projects and train staff in basic GIS and web site operations. This project is ongoing.

ESRI creates the GIS software that is so important to our work. Over the years we have received an incredible amount of support from ESRI and their conservation technology program. We recently received support from ESRI and the Society for Conservation GIS to send Bob down to California to attend the ESRI annual user conference and the SCGIS annual conference. Bob was one of 3 domestic scholars chosen to join 37 international scholars at this year's conference. It was an incredibly rewarding experience for bob.