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Track: Forestry
Doretta Collins
Washington Department of Natural Resources
1111 Washington Street SE
PO Box 47012
Olympia, WA 98504-7012
Telephone: 360-902-1426
Fax: 360-902-1784
E-mail: dcqq490@wadner.gov
Using GIS and Remote Sensing Technologies to Help Protect Public Resources in Washington State's Forests While Providing for a Viable Timber Industry
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is charged with protecting our State's natural resources. The DNR's Forest Practices Division regulates forestry activity and timber harvesting in the State, as it is required to protect our forest resources while maintaining a viable timber industry. The dual mandates can make decision making quite challenging at times. Although the rule making process is extremely political, scientific foundations must always be presented. Our scientists and decision makers study a variety of issues involving our forests, almost all of which require complex spatial analyses. To accomplish this, they turn to the Forest Practices technical group of GIS and remote sensing experts for the answers. The technical group, using ArcInfo GIS and ERDAS image processing tools, design the methodologies to answer a myriad of complex spatial questions, perform the analyses, present the results of the analyses, and create maps to visually present the results. A
representative of the technical group will present an overview of some of the spatial analyses we have performed and the ongoing programs we have developed to facilitate the Forest Practices mandates as well as the entire agency's agenda in protecting our natural resources. Examples of our work include the Rate of Timber Harvest Program, which uses multidate satellite images and change detection techniques to monitor timber harvesting in Washington over time and the Watershed Analysis Program, which will assist in our agency's move toward a more landscape approach in protecting public resources within the State. A brief review of the complex spatial analyses that have been incorporated into our Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet EIS documents will also be presented, as well as a map of a digital orthophoto overlaid with a stream-type map that strengthened our position in a lawsuit with a major timber company over a logging rule. Outline I. Overview
of DNR and forest practices mandates in protecting public resources II. The use of GIS and Remote Sensing Technologies to answer complex spatial questions to facilitate the mandates A. Programs 1. Rate of Harvest Program 2. Watershed Analysis Program B. Spatial analyses 1. EIS Documents: Northern spotted owl and marbled murrelets - endangered species act. 2. Orthophoto map used in lawsuit III. Brief conclusion and discussion of future of GIS/Remote Sensing Technologies in landscape approach and habitat conservation plan.
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