Conservation
Atlas to be on Internet
January 20, 2003
By Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
399 North D Street
San Bernardino, CA 92401
909-386-3844
http://www.sbsun.com
To submit a Letter to the Editor: carolyn.schatz@sbsun.com
(100-word
limit --)
Victorville, California - Growth projections for cities in the region,
the county's land use plans, natural vegetation, conservation plans and
the
location of major farmlands will soon be only a click away.
The California Digital Conservation Atlas will have it all, plus data on
soils, wetlands, rivers and roads, floodplains and natural resource
projects.
A part of the California Legacy Project, a statewide program being
developed by the California Resources Agency, the atlas is expected to
be
available on the Internet in February.
"It will include planning and natural resource data for the entire
state," said Marc Hoshovsky, senior biologist with the California
Department of Fish and Game's Legacy Project office in Sacramento.
"Users of the atlas will be able to view over 45 sets of data,
create
custom maps and download some information to their own computers,"
he said.
Among sources of data in the atlas are local, state and federal
agencies, and the University of California.
State agencies include the California departments of conservation, fish
and game, forestry and fire protection, parks and recreation and water
resources.
Among federal agencies are the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land
Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Census Bureau,
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Agriculture's
natural
resources conservation service.
While valuable for conservation groups, planners, wildlife groups, and
others, the atlas has limits and will not be suitable for environmental
review or parcel-level work, Hoshovsky said.
He said the atlas will be available next month on the Legacy Project's
website, at http://www.legacy.ca.gov
Through the project, California's Resources Agency is assessing the
state's natural resources and wildlife habitat in an effort to develop
long-term priorities to conserve lands for diverse uses.
"Through this six-year program, the state is taking a more active
role
in long-term investment strategies to acquire and restore public
resources
and buy private lands to protect these resources," said Madelyn
Glickfeld,
the Resources Agency's assistant secretary.
"California is developing a variety of plans to cope with growth.
As
growth occurs, it's necessary to protect the ecosystem, water and
habitat."
Population growth and land use trends are beginning to weigh heavily on
the ecosystem that Californians rely upon, Glickfeld said. The Legacy
Project was created in response to increasing threats to the state's
landscape and biodiversity, she said.
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1124277,00.html
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More reading:
http://www.legacy.ca.gov/
http://www.legacy.ca.gov/committees.epl
(check out who's on their
Advisory Committees ... and if this doesn't get your attention,
check out the 'staff and consultants' below ... )
NGOs
The Nature Conservancy
Debbie Drake Director of Government Relations
The Wildlands Conservancy
David Myers Executive Director
Joe Caves - Joe Caves and Associates
Trust for Public Land
Reed Holdermann Executive Director for California
Liza Riddle Director of Projects
Foundations
Packard Foundation/
Resources Law Group
Michael Mantell Packard Conservation/
RLG Attorney
Steve Johnson RLG, Senior Project Advisor
http://www.legacy.ca.gov/staff_contrib.epl
http://www.legacy.ca.gov/new_atlas.epl?page=atlasWelcome
http://www.legacy.ca.gov/new_atlas.epl?page=uc_content
http://www.legacy.ca.gov/new_atlas.epl
http://atlas.resources.ca.gov/cadca/cadca.htm
