Identifying Potential Wilderness Areas on the Fremont-Winema National Forest With ARCGIS

55 Pages·2017·1.04 MB·English

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DDiiggiittaall CCoommmmoonnss @@ DDUU
Geography and the Environment: Graduate
Department of Geography and the Environment
Student Capstones
4-29-2013
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NNaattiioonnaall FFoorreesstt wwiitthh AARRCCGGIISS MMooddeellbbuuiillddeerr
Zach Adams
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Adams, Zach, "Identifying Potential Wilderness Areas on the Fremont-Winema National Forest with
ARCGIS Modelbuilder" (2013). Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones. 30.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/geog_ms_capstone/30
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ID E N TIFYIN G PO TE N TIA L W ILD E R N E S S A R E A S O N TH E FR E M O N T-W IN E M A
N A TIO N A L FO R E S T
W ITH A R C G IS M O D E LB U ILD E R

Z ach A dam s

U n iversity of D en ver D epartm en t of G eograph y

C apston e Project

For

M aster of S cien ce in G eograph ic In form ation S cien ce

A pril 2 9 , 2 0 1 3
Adam s-ii
A B S T R A C T
Th e Frem on t-W in em a N ation al Forest adm in isters over tw o m illion acres in
sou th cen tral O regon . Part of m an agin g th is lan dscape in clu des overseein g
existin g w ildern ess areas an d iden tifyin g n ew poten tial w ildern ess areas. In
th e past th is process h as been cu m bersom e, w ith little th ou gh t given to
stan dardizin g th e effort across th e adm in istrative area. Th is project w as an
effort to develop a geospatial m odel th at in corporates U .S . Forest S ervice
spatial datasets u ltim ately stan dardizin g th e poten tial w ildern ess
iden tification process du rin g site specific N E PA an alysis.
Adam s-iii

C o n te n ts

Illu stratio n s..................................................................................... v

A b b re v iatio n s .................................................................................. vi

In tro d u ctio n .................................................................................... 1
B ackgrou n d ............................................................................... 3
C u rren t Issu es ........................................................................... 4
Pu rpose .................................................................................... 5
L ite ratu re R e v ie w ............................................................................ 5
N E PA in th e Forest S ervice.......................................................... 6
M u lti-C riteria G IS M odels ............................................................ 8
W ildern ess M on itorin g M odelin g................................................... 1 0
D e sig n an d Im p le m e n tatio n ............................................................ 1 5
C on ceptu al Fram ew ork ............................................................... 1 5
E n viron m en t ............................................................................. 1 8
D ata R equ irem en ts .................................................................... 1 9
File S tru ctu re ............................................................................ 2 0
Th e M odel ................................................................................. 2 3
M odu le 1 .............................................................................. 2 3
M odu le 2 .............................................................................. 2 7
M odu le 3 .............................................................................. 2 8
In terface .............................................................................. 3 0
Im plem en tation ......................................................................... 3 0
R e su lts............................................................................................. 3 4
D iscu ssio n ....................................................................................... 3 8
A re as F o r F u rth e r D iscu ssio n .......................................................... 4 2
D ocu m en tation .......................................................................... 4 3
B roader Im plem en tation ............................................................. 4 3
Pu blic D isclosu re ........................................................................ 4 4
Adam s-iv

W ildern ess C h aracter ................................................................. 4 5
C o n clu sio n ....................................................................................... 4 6
R e fe re n ce s ....................................................................................... 4 8
Adam s-v

Illu stratio n s

Figu res
1 . C orporate File S tru ctu re, T: D rive ....................................... 2 0
2 . A n alysis Tool File S tru ctu re ................................................ 2 1
3 . A n alysis Tool File S tru ctu re D etail ....................................... 2 2
4 . Poten tial W ildern ess A rea A n alysis M odel D iagram ............... 2 5
5 . Pyth on C ode U sed to R en am e D ata In pu t Folder .................. 2 8
6 . Poten tial W ildern ess A rea A n alysis Toolbox .......................... 3 0
7 . Poten tial W ildern ess A rea A n alysis M odel In pu t D ialog .......... 3 0
8 . Poten tial W ildern ess A n alysis Tool Produ cts ......................... 3 5

M aps
1 . Project V icin ity .................................................................. 3 2
2 . Project A n alysis A rea ......................................................... 3 3
3 . Poten tial W ildern ess A n alysis Tool Produ cts ......................... 3 7
Adam s-vi

A b b re v iatio n s

B LM B u reau of Lan d M an agem en t
C E C ategorical E xclu sion
E A E n viron m en tal A ssessm en t
E IS E n viron m en tal Im pact S tatem en t
FW N F Frem on t-W in em a N ation al Forest
G I G eospatial In terface
G IS G eograph ic In form ation S ystem
ID T In terdisciplin ary Team
IR A In ven toried R oadless A rea
LR M P Lan d an d R esou rce M an agem en t Plan
N E PA N ation al E n viron m en tal Policy A ct
N W PS N ation al W ildern ess Preservation S ystem
PW A Poten tial W ildern ess A rea
R H S I R ecreation H abitat S u itability In dex
U S FS U n ited S tates Forest S ervice
W S A W ildern ess S tu dy A rea
Adam s-1

In tro d u ctio n

Th e W ildern ess A ct of 1 9 6 4 establish ed th e N ation al W ildern ess
Preservation S ystem (N W PS ) th rou gh w h ich lan ds of u n iqu e n atu ral
ch aracter w ere to be preserved for th e fu tu re en joym en t of th e A m erican
people. Th e A ct design ated w ildern ess on over 9 m illion acres of preserved
lan ds. S in ce th e origin al design ation s an addition al 1 0 0 m illion acres of
w ildern ess h ave been added to th e system . A s lan dscapes evolve over tim e,
federal lan ds con tin u e to be assessed for possible in corporation in to th e
N W PS (E ch oh aw k 2 0 0 2 ). W ritten policy for lan d m an agem en t agen cies su ch
as th e B u reau of Lan d M an agem en t (B LM ), N ation al Park S ervice, U .S . Fish
& W ildlife S ervice, an d th e U .S . Forest S ervice (U S FS ) in clu des direction for
each adm in istrative u n it to establish an d im plem en t m eth ods for th e
iden tification of poten tial w ildern ess for later evalu ation as part of local
M an agem en t Plan revision s.
U S FS H an dbooks provide gen eral direction from th e W ash in gton O ffice
to all N ation al Forests as to h ow th is progression sh ou ld occu r. Poten tial
W ildern ess A reas (PW A s) are to be iden tified du rin g project-specific an alysis
at th e forest level as part of th e N ation al E n viron m en tal Policy A ct (N E PA )
process (W estlu n d, 2 0 1 2 ). A s th e In terdisciplin ary Team (ID T) goes th rou gh
th e N E PA process for each project, th e team is ch arged w ith iden tifyin g
PW A s based on H an dbook criteria, an d evalu atin g th e effects of project-
related action s on su ch areas. Iden tification resu lts w ill be docu m en ted an d
Adam s-2

forw arded to a qu alitative assessm en t of w ildern ess ch aracteristics th at w ill
be com pleted du rin g Lan d & R esou rce M an agem en t Plan (LR M P) revision .
In recen t years th e u se of G IS h as becom e com m on place, if n ot
u biqu itou s, for u se in th e variou s types of spatial an alyses requ ired for U S FS
N E PA projects. W h ile m an y n atu ral resou rce specialists are begin n in g to
u n derstan d th e pow erfu l poten tial in G IS -based an alyses, w ildern ess
m an agers m ay n ot fu lly u n derstan d th e ben efits an d lim itation s of th is
tech n ology. Th e ready availability of project plan n in g in form ation gen erated
w ith tradition al m eth ods of an alysis h as h istorically been problem atic (Peter
Lan dres 2 0 0 1 ). Th e u se of G IS in an en terprise en viron m en t, alon g w ith
con sisten tly-stru ctu red an d broadly-accessible file stru ctu re, h as addressed
m an y of th ese problem s. G IS provides a m ech an ism for relatively qu ick
evalu ation s of stan dardized datasets to create produ cts for altern ative
developm en t an d for u se by th e resou rce specialists in th eir effects an alyses
an d resu ltin g specialty area-specific reports. A ddition ally, G IS allow s for
m ore robu st an alysis m eth odology, an d replicability th rou gh th e u se of
m etadata, m odelin g an d w orkflow docu m en tation (G regory B row n 2 0 0 5 ).
R eplicability is an im portan t factor for stream lin in g sim ilar an alysis in fu tu re
projects an d as th e fou n dation for defen sible decision s th at w ill w ith stan d
frequ en tly occu rrin g legal ch allen ges su ch as appeals or litigation .
E xten din g th e u se of G IS th rou gh th e poten tial w ildern ess
iden tification process in a system atic, repeatable approach is th e n ext logical
Adam s-3

step. W h en com bin ed w ith th e experien ce, observation s an d profession al
ju dgm en t of w ildern ess m an agers an d oth er n atu ral resou rce su bject m atter
experts, a G IS m odel can effectively iden tify PW A s du rin g project an alysis.
N E PA an d associated regu lation s requ ire project-level an alysis to
evalu ate a reason able array of altern atives to a proposed action w h ich m ay
h ave poten tially sign ifican t effects on th e project area. A m ajor elem en t of
th is process is pu blic in volvem en t th rou gh com m en t periods an d appeals.
O th er govern m en t agen cies, th e pu blic, an d special in terest grou ps are all
solicited equ ally for in pu t du rin g th e scopin g process. O ver tim e, th e
defen sibility an d replicablity of th e resu lts of N E PA an alyses evalu atin g
grou n d-distu rbin g activities on federal lan ds h ave becom e even m ore of an
issu e as th e th reat of litigation by special in terest grou ps is ever-presen t in
th e m in ds of m an agers an d ID T m em bers.
B ackgrou n d
In recen t years en viron m en tal grou ps su ch as O regon W ild, O regon
N atu ral D esert A ssociation , an d Th e W ildern ess S ociety h ave becom e m ore
vocal an d in volved in th e N E PA process on federally-m an aged lan ds,
especially w h ere w ildern ess an d PW A s are in volved. E ach of th ese grou ps
h as been very forth com in g in providin g th e resu lts of th eir in depen den t
in ven tories of federal an d state lan ds th at w ere developed w ith th e specific
in ten t of fin din g areas th at cou ld be in clu ded in th e w ildern ess evalu ation
process (W estlu n d, 2 0 1 2 ). W h en agen cy an alysis resu lts do n ot align w ith