Abstract - GIS Implementation for Ecosystem Management-Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resource's Watershed Approach

Track: Natural Resources and Conservation

Terry Hiltz
State of Wisconsin
101 S Webster Street
PO Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707-7921

Telephone: 608-266-5606
Fax: 608-267-2800
E-mail: hiltzt@dnr.state.wi.us

Ann Schachte, Jeff Kreider

GIS Implementation for Ecosystem Management-Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resource's Watershed Approach

Geographic information systems are invaluable tools for federal, state, and local governments, in addition to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), adopting ecosystem-based approaches to environmental and natural resources management. Based on a firm scientific foundation, the ecosystem management process incorporates human factors into the examination of ecosystem structure and function, process, and interaction. By adopting a holistic ecosystemwide viewpoint, agencies stakeholders, and partners cooperatively develop adaptive environmental and natural resources management strategies and priorities. Recognizing that spatial relationships are fundamental to ecosystem evaluation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) "integrated ecosystem management" approach utilized tools such as GIS technology to integrate and analyze data related to newly defined areas called geographic management units (GMUs). GIS provides the mechanism for storing the inventory of Wisconsin's aquatic and terrestrial resources and the analysis tool for identifying problem areas with GMU watersheds.