Gambier Island Conservancy

Streamkeepers and Mapping Project

· Little detailed environmental data existed for the Island.

· The Conservancy was concerned that without hard data and increased public awareness the

· Pressures to develop and log land have escalated in recent years.

· The Conservancy wanted to take a pro-active approach to help the Land Use Planning

· Collect available digital data and analog maps in a central location.

· Digitize and make data more accessible (Arcview) for land use planning and field/inventory

· Data collected: TRIM, forest cover, orthophotos, cadastral, geological, zoning, biophysical

· Identify gaps and prioritize projects.

· Streamkeepers: detailed fish habitat assessment and stream mapping.

· Mapping Gambier's watersheds.

· Environmentally Sensitve Areas Project.

· Study of the riparian zones around Gambier's Lakes.

· Old Growth Study.

· Wetlands Project.

· Integration of data sets with the Streamkeepers/SHIM detailed stream-mapping data.

· Recognizing the accuracy limitations within each set of data (e.g., Island outline).

· Need an effective way to store meta-data.

· Increased level of technical skills required by local volunteers to manage the data.

· Logistics of doing detailed field work in a remote rugged island location.

· Availability/distribution of environmental information to interested agencies/groups/persons.

· Need a central repository for data to avoid duplication and assist other initiatives.

· Need standards for mapping and inventory work that will allow increasing levels of detail to

· Having standards would enhance shareability and reduce redundancy.

David Doyle

Maria Van Dyk

E-MAIL: sn1539@sunshine.net