PIN’s GIS Application on Forest Management: PIN’s GIS Application on Forest Management Binke Wang* GIS Specialist, M.Sc. Department of Natural Resources Penobscot Indian Nation * Work completed together with forest staff


Agenda: Agenda Penobscot Indian Nation (PIN) & its Land Holdings DNR programs, & GIS facilities, data & services Timber Resources, Forest management Goals & its Strategic Plan GIS support to forest road and timber type management GIS applications on Forest Zone Strategic Management Plan Summary & Questions


Slide3: Located in eastern Maine, federally recognized 1980 Comprised of >200 islands, from Old Town onto the North Headquarters at Indian Island, Old Town, Maine PIN Reservation


Slide4: >2200 Tribal members 22% on Indian Island, the reservation; 57% in Maine, 43% in other states, mostly in New England 75% of Maine Penobscot within 50 mi of Old Town Penobscot People


Slide5: Tribal Government & Community Center located at Only populated Rez. island, southernmost of Rez. >500 Tribal members, 22%, reside on Tribal business & services here as well Indian Island


Slide6: Reservation Islands: 4424 ac Trust Land: 96335 ac, Fee Land: 27398 ac Total lands: 128157 ac PIN Land holdings


Tribal Government & DNR: Tribal Government & DNR


DNR Programs & GIS: DNR Programs & GIS


Basic GIS Facilities: Basic GIS Facilities ArcGIS9.1 w/extensions: 3D Analyst Spatial Analyst Geo-statistical Analyst Publisher Street Map ArcView3.3 w/extensions: 3D Analyst Spatial Analyst Network Analyst Image Analysis ALTEK 44x56 Digitizer HP5500uv Plotter


Slide10: General Data availability


Slide11: Typical GIS Services Overall GIS processing/operations: New layer capture and update; Spatial analysis and modeling; Map design and output; Database integration and manipulation; System maintenance, trouble shooting and upgrade Focus on DNR programs, also other Depts: DTR, PED, Cultural Resources, Housing, Maintenance, Public Safety, Council/Chief & Tribal Members… Outreached with outside entities for data exchange, tec upgrade: GIS/eng services, work for the tribe, or on tribal property; Federal, State, other tribal governments; Educational/research/technology/academic institutions Participate in conference, training session & other technology exchange sites as a rep of tribal GIS,


Slide12: Sample Projects completed Forest: annual timber inventory, update, road inventory, maintenance, classify, update, water classify, update, zone plan/update Water resources: monitoring site mapping, watershed, discharge, waste disposal facility mapping, spatial analysis; wetland, landfill Fishery & wildlife: dams, species inventory, gps data organize, habitat, spatial pattern/temporal trend Air quality: monitoring site maps DTR/Public safety : E911/indian island access, Rez lot automation, assignment, set-aside PED/Outreach: alder stream & Carrabassett wind mill layout/analysis, Pine-tree landfill; data provision to business partners; Housing: lot/background element info, site plan for land development; Maintenance: Trust land route inventory, mapping Cultural res: special site plan, historical site mapping Council/Chief: Tribal member residency vs Indian-island proximity Tribal members/museum: Miscellaneous maps, game/business navigation, hunting, property mgt


Slide13: Soft wood is major, hard wood minor; Some mixed wood, less others: alder; Quite bit wetland, bog, flowage & water areas; Timber in all tribal land, management on the trust lands: 69359 ac. PIN Timber Resources Timber types (%@area) in Trust Lands


Forest: Resource & Eco-element: Forest: Resource & Eco-element Important natural resources: Timber products Wildlife habitat; Critical ecosystem element: Water resource: wetland, runoff process, ground water; Soil erosion & water quality; Mass movement & slope stability; Micro-climate: ground wind speed, humidity and heat.. Human being social life: Historical/cultural sites Recreational sites Regional water balance, Long-term atmosphere circulation & global climate change


Slide15: Optimize income from logging—timber harvest Make multiple uses & sustain the yields Maintain water quality & wetland resources Protect wildlife & fisheries habitat Mitigate environmental hazards/damage/degradation Harmonize nature sustainability vs. human desire Care for Cultural/historical sites & prized plants/species Preserve scenic beauty & recreational resources Maintain access (roads) for management & property usage Basic Goals of Forest Management


Slide16: Project Activity Plan Strategic Plan Program Plan


Slide17: Timber Type Inventory Timber Product Harvest Road Design and Layout Road Classification and Maintenance Zoning Strategic Plan of Forest Management Water body buffer Road buffer Wildlife habitat area Wetland area Recreational area Cultural/historical sites Environment sensitive sites: high elevation, steep slope… GIS/GPS Projects with Forest Management


Slide18: Timber type resources inventory; Timber product harvest plan; Timber growth monitoring, Timber volume estimate Timber status assessment & potential evaluation pattern view, query, statistical manipulation, modeling mapping GIS/GPS support to Timber Operations


Slide19: Road layout design & road network analysis, Road classification, Road acreage estimate, Road engineering: building, maintenance & upgrade, Access & delivery info for forest management, recreation & other on-site business GIS/GPS support to Forest Road Systems


Slide20: Linear object buffer: roads, streams; Polygon object buffer: rivers, wetland, lake/ponds; Other area delineation: wildlife habitat, recreational/high view areas, high elevation area, extracted/digitized from other layers/sources, GPSed from field; Set-aside layer creation: cultural/historical sites/areas (no definite boundary), gravel pits, environmental sensitive sites; Multi-data integration, deliverable finalization: layers, data table or maps. GIS Operations for Zoning Plan


Slide21: GIS Flow Chart


Slide22: Specify a segment of the objects: roads, or streams—GPS or extracted from existing information; Identify the class or grade of the road/stream segments; Assign a buffer distance to the object; Create buffer Calculate zone type value Linear Object Buffer


Slide23: Polygon Object Buffer Specify target areas/polys: ponds, lakes & rivers--extracted from existing information; Identify the features for buffer sizes; Assign a buffer distance to a field for each area; Create buffer Combine target areas & buffer Calculate zone type value


Slide24: Deer Wintering area: LURC zoned deer yards, extracted/ digitized Wetland areas: extracted from the LURC zoned wetlands & other mapped wetlands Recreational areas: lake sites, Hill top…, , current/potential, GPS/digitized High elevation (>2700 ft): extracted from a contour layer; Other Area Delineation


Slide25: Cultural/historical interest sites, point or no-definite-boundary areas; Human disturbed sites: gravel pit, Recreational sites: current or potential: Boat landing, Bog area, open area, scenic stretch; Camp sites; Public springs GPS/digitized from various sources Set-Aside Layer


Slide26: Union individual transit zone layers Fix sliver polygons; Calculate overall zone type values; Prioritize zone types; Dissolve redundant boundary Finalize zone type layers Multi-data Integration


Slide27: GIS Flow Chart


Slide28: Produced a zone map with polygon and point zone information; Created statistical zoning data using the attributes; Made plans 2001 & 2003 Kept track of new development, maintain data update Zoning Maps/Plan Zone Plan 2001


Slide29: Easier, efficient, straight-forward operations; Create reliable & flexible format of data layers Provide multiple scenarios for optimum operations. Critical steps: buffer object identifications; zone type order setting Conclusion Zone Plan 2003


Slide30: PIN, a tribe at Penobscot River, Maine, has quite bit of land holdings, including forest resources/environment; A Forest Program & GIS in the DNR set up to take care of the PIN forest resources & other spatial data issues; Forest, as a resource & a part of environment, plays a critical role in ecosystem; complicated goals & integrated strategy required for forest management; GIS applied in the forest management with success, examples presented include: GIS supports forest road maintenance, timber type management, and zone plan creation; Zone plan made of a series road, water & wetland buffers, and other sensitive protection areas, where GIS applied effectively. Summary


Questions?: Questions? Thanks for your attention!