AmericaView is a nationally organized, state-based remote sensing research and education network. With funding from the U.S. Geological Survey, AmericaView (AV) is lead by academic scientists who partner with government agencies, educational institutions, non-profits, and commercial firms to promote the use of remotely sensed imagery for education and applied research. Initially the AV program focused on distributing Landsat data. Recently, education and applied research have become more important. This presentation will describe projects involving academic faculty and students in partnership with government agencies, ranging from invasive species mapping in forests and rangeland to wildlife habitat mapping. Projects also include monitoring of illegal logging, identifying park and forest boundary violations, mapping of active and recent fires, monitoring outcomes of prescribed burning, and studying the impact of land cover change on watersheds and water resources. Developing partnership opportunities including data sharing and access, pilot projects, student and faculty internships, and professional development will also be discussed.

This presentation covers the challenges of acquiring imagery and producing products for the NAIP from a contractor standpoint. It covers changes in specifications and the introduction of new equipment, technologies, and processes to achieve and improve program objectives. It highlights the exemplary cooperative efforts of the government and private industry that have established this is one of the most effective and responsive mapping programs in US history.

Under the direction of OMB Circular A-16, which names the NPS as lead agency for the cultural resource spatial data theme, the NPS Cultural Resource GIS Facility has taken on the task of developing standards and guidance for the Federal government within the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). In February 2008 the FGDC Standards Working Group unanimously approved the NPS cultural resource spatial data transfer standard proposal, beginning the FGDC standard creation process. In an effort to foster consensus building, the NPS brought together over fifty Federal, State, tribal, and local preservationists on March 11, 2009 to discuss a standard way to exchange cultural resource spatial data. The participants established a set of principles, instructions, and recommendations for a smaller group to complete work on a formal standard over the next two years. This paper will report on the March meeting and describe the principles agreed upon as well as the recommendations provided.

Jamie Blosser and Tom Pederson have been working with the Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan pueblo) for over eight years. Pederson and Blosser’s work at the pueblo has led them to the conclusion that previously published materials, while scholarly and specialized, lacked a general overview or picture of the settlement and its residents, and how the pueblo actually developed. It also failed to take into account those who experience the heritage of the area on a daily basis. Our work with the pueblo reflects changes in the field of cultural resource management itself. As Native Americans have become integral players in cultural resource management, the universe of what constitutes a cultural resource has expanded—they define cultural resources as a “place” or “setting” with tribal elders and traditional leaders consulted for their knowledge of such sites.

The revised FGDC Vegetation Classification Standard was approved in early 2008. It is a dynamic content stand that will allow the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) to be revised over time in a systematic way. Since the standard was approved, the FGDC Vegetation Subcommittee has been working with the ESA Vegetation Classification Panel, NatureServe, the USGS Biological Resources Discipline, and the Forest Service to develop the organization and infrastructure to implement the new standard. A team of representatives from these organizations is scoping out database and internet capabilities needed to store and serve the NVC, and the organization needed to manage its revision and maintenance. Funding for this effort has been provided by USGS and the Forest Service.

The Lake Mead / Parashant National Monument is a jointly managed NPS and BLM area of about 1M acres; ~800K BLM and ~200K NPS, administratively connected to the neighboring Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Vegetation inventory is continuing in the ~200K acres of the Lake Mead administrative areas common to the adjacent Grand Canyon NP inventory efforts. Our direction as public land managers includes the goal to make datasets as useful and cost effective as possible for the many uses and users of vegetation data. Current hierarchy revisions have resulted in increased map class types available in the National Vegetation Classification Standard, and the GAP and LANDFIRE programs are exploring the use of Groups and MacroGroups as nested hierarchy improvements to the Ecological Systems used earlier. This presentation will focus on the field sampling, imagery, and data collected to date to characterize the vegetation along the Colorado River connecting Lake Mead, the Parashant NM, and the Grand Canyon.

The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) is a program designed to acquire peak growing season “leaf on” imagery, and deliver this imagery to USDA agencies and other partnering agencies to assist in government land-management programs. The acquisition of NAIP imagery began with test projects in 2002. The goal of NAIP is to collect one (1) meter resolution imagery for the conterminous United States. The imagery is either natural color or “four band” imagery, and is delivered in the year of acquisition. In 2009, NAIP will begin a second acquisition cycle. After an initial five year cycle, the program will continue with a three year cycle. Private contractors acquire the NAIP imagery every year through APFO multi-year contracts for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). Contractors are selected via “best value” criteria. Secondary contracts between NAIP cost share partners and NAIP contractors are allowed, subject to FSA approval. The future of NAIP, as it has evolved from film & scanning to direct digital acquisition, will continue to change and adjust to users requirements and technological improvements. The potential of National programs such as Imagery For The Nation (IFTN) may provide addition changes and challenges in the evolution of the NAIP contracts.

Federal land management agencies in Southern Nevada are cooperating in the management of federal lands in this area. The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) has been formed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the USDA Forest Service to coordinate their efforts. A SNAP Board has been formed and is made up of the local agency heads supported by a full-time Executive Director. Fourteen interagency teams have been formed to coordinate efforts in specific topic areas. These teams were interviewed to develop a vision and roadmap for sharing and utilizing geospatial data across agencies. The information obtained included an overview of the currently used information systems, current state and required functionality for effective implementation of interagency projects, and identification of required and desired framework data layers. Key findings and six specific recommendations generated from this study will be presented.

The National Map is a dynamic system of maps, geospatial data and analytical products and services managed by the U. S. Geological Survey and a network of partnerships. The U.S. Forest Service is a major contributor to The National Map through a partnership to manage data and publish topographic maps over Federal lands in the U.S. comprising approximately 20 percent of the published topographic quadrangle maps. The National Map customers use maps to enhance their recreational experience geospatial data enable better policy and land management decisions and the on earlier versions of The National Map suggested that the future state of customer input.