—Mason Croft, University of Idaho
The Northwest Gap Analysis Project (NWGAP) is mapping and assessing the biodiversity for the five-state region encompassing Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Wyoming. It is being coordinated by the University of Idaho and the U.S. Geological Survey Gap Analysis Program as part of national products. The primary objectives of NWGAP are to create detailed, seamless GIS maps of land cover, species ranges and predicted distributions, land stewardship and management status. Additionally, to do a gap analysis, to identify species and vegetation communities that lack representation, or are underrepresented within the Northwest's network of conservation lands (i.e., stewardship database), in other words, "gaps". As host agency for the Protected Areas Database of the US (PAD-US) partnership, GAP administers a multi-user geodatabase and standardized list of ownership and management designation coded domains. We seek coordination with additional Federal data providers or reviewers.