Poster Presentation C Thursday, 5:00 – 6:00 pm C Edmund Fitzgerald Exhibit Hall

Using GIS in Landscape Planning

Chad Skally
Minnesota Forest Resources Council
500 Lafayette Road
PO Box 44
St. Paul, MN  55155
chad.skally@dnr.state.mn.us

The Minnesota Sustainable Forest Resources Act of 1995 established the Minnesota Forest Resources Council and the Landscape Program. The Landscape Program assists in sustaining Minnesota's forests by establishing citizen based regional landscape committees to conduct long term strategic planning and coordination across all ownerships in each of the 6 landscape regions of the state. The committee's assemble assessment information, conduct analysis and establish voluntary goals and strategies to achieve the goals for each region. Geographic information systems (GIS) are crucial to all of these tasks. Data from various organizations including the Department of Natural Resources, US Forest Service, County Land Departments, and industrial corporations is combined in GISs for assessments. This data can then be analyzed and used to assist in setting up goals and strategies. Examples of data that has been shared and used in setting up goals include forest type data and forest road data. This planning effort is currently in progress in the Northeast and North Central parts of the state. Any interested individual is welcome to participate.