ODFW launches interactive mapping tool for Oregon’s crucial fish and wildlife habitats, March 19

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has launched its Centralized Oregon Mapping Products and Analysis Support System, Compass, an online mapping system that provides an overview of crucial fish and wildlife habitats across the state. Crucial habitats are places on the landscape that provide the natural resources critical to fish and wildlife species.  The Compass map can be accessed via the ODFW website. It is free and available to anyone who is interested. Designed to help users make informed land use decisions as they plan energy, transportation, industrial, habitat and other projects, the maps and analysis tools are easy to use.  “Compass will save time and money as planners now have the GIS data they need at the beginning of a project,” said Holly Michael, ODFW Conservation Policy Coordinator. “For example, they will be able to see deer and elk wintering areas; high-value wetlands; threatened and endangered species; highways and railroads; sage-grouse core areas and much more.”  “The habitat data in Compass will allow large-scale energy developers to evaluate the proposed location of their facility before expending a lot of resources,” said Todd Cornett, Oregon Department of Energy Siting Division Administrator. “And, it will be very helpful in our evaluation of the natural resource portion of development applications.”  Susan Haupt, ODOT, Chief Environmental Officer and Environmental Section Manager, is an advocate of Compass. “We’re excited about test driving this new tool. It’s definitely a step in the right direction as we are always looking to improve our planning and project development processes to better align decisions with ecological values,” she said. “Fiscal and environmental stewardship continue to be critical drivers, and tools like these support better all-around outcomes.”  Compass incorporates data sets from a number of partners including The Wetland Conservancy, Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Geospatial Enterprise and United States Geological Survey. Conservation Opportunity Areas as identified in the Oregon Conservation Strategy are included.  Compass is part of a 16-state map.  Compass was developed in cooperation with the Western Governors’ Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT), which launched in December 2013. CHAT provides a regional view of fish and wildlife habitat. The 16-state map, which includes Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho and Nevada, is available on the Western Governors’ website.