X2: Oral Presentation C Friday, 11:00 – 11:30 am C Lake Superior Ballroom MN

Using GIS to Locate, Analyze and Map Feedlots in Minnesota

Scott Freburg, George Johnson
Minnesota Planning Land Management Information Center
and Minnesota Planning Environmental Quality Board
330 Centennial Building
658 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN  55108
scott.freburg@state.mn.us

The Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) is a statewide study authorized and funded by the 1998 Minnesota Legislature. This legislation directed the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to “… examine the long-term effects of the livestock industry, as it exists and as it is changing, on the economy, environment and way of life of Minnesota and its citizens.” For the past two years the Land Management Information Center's GIS Project Services team has been assisting the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board. This presentation will summarize the GEIS and the process used to collect feedlot locations across the state. It will also illustrate how this data and GIS tools can be used to better understand the distribution and impact of feedlots in Minnesota.