THE NatureMapping BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY PROJECT

As part of the National Gap Analysis Program, the Washington Gap Analysis Project (1991-1997) created predicted range distribution maps for all terrestrial species based on habitats delineated from satellite imagery. The NatureMapping Program began in 1992 asking retired natural resource professionals to groundtruth the landcover map. Knowing the National Gap Analysis Program was planning to update the maps in ten years, NatureMapping began the Biodiversity Inventory Project asking the public and schools to report wildlife observations and the habitats where the species were observed. In 2007, the NatureMapping Program submitted 110,000 observations for 420 species to the Pacific Northwest Gap Project for their modeling efforts. By associating species and habitats, communities of volunteers improved the accuracy of centralized data associated with habitat distribution and associated biodiversity, enhanced their awareness of local habitats, provided input to land use policy development, and has opened the door to integrate geography and GIS into K-12 science curriculum.