Forest Information

Introduction

The Interagency Information Cooperative (IIC) works in conjunction with the Minnesota Forest Resources Council. As part of its mission, the IIC will provide access to data and information about Minnesota's forests in multiple formats for varying interests and needs. The first step towards providing this level of information was the development of an IIC Internet homepage. The next step was to identify key forest resources databases, develop descriptive information (Metadata) for each of those databases, and then providing access to this information through an online Forest Information catalog.

Beginning in March 1997, the IIC began the process of identifying and documenting key forest resources databases to be added to the IIC Forest Information catalog. This process took into account the results of three IIC Needs Assessment Workshops (see Forest Information Needs Assessment) and interviews of key individuals with public agencies and private organizations. Using the Forest Information Needs Assessment report as a guide, multiple projects were undertaken to document forest resources databases and other sources of forest information determined by the Workshop participants to be most important to the IIC mission. Metadata records were developed using the Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines (MGMG), developed by the GIS Standards Committee of the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information.

It should be mentioned that various federal, state, county and local government agencies, and private data providers have also been busy developing metadata records for their GIS databases. This combined work has resulted in a large inventory (LMIC - Minnesota Geographic Data Clearinghouse; MetroGIS - Data Finder; NSDI Clearinghouse) of descriptive metadata records. As an added bonus, many of these metadata records have an online linkage to the database, allowing the data user to automatically retrieve the data free of charge.

The IIC Forest Information catalog is the result of a continuing effort to document forest information databases throughout the State of Minnesota. The IIC will continue to focus on making these databases available free of charge to the general public via online linkages within the metadata records. Although this online catalog of forest information is quite comprehensive, it is by no means exhaustive. For example, metadata records have not yet been created for those public agencies and private organizations that were in the early stages of their GIS development activities. As time and funding permits, these agencies and organizations will be contacted to discuss the metadata development for their databases.

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The IIC Forest Information catalog consists of the following sections:

Land Cover - The Land Cover section consists of the following five themes: (1) Detailed (Stand Level) Forest Inventory, (2) IIC Common Inventory Format, (3) Forest Inventory from Permanently Established Sampling Plots - FIA, (4) Remote Sensing, and (5) Historical Vegetation. In addition to the metadata records developed by the IIC, this section also includes numerous metadata records developed by various federal, state, county and local government agencies, and private data providers. Some of these metadata records have an online linkage to the database, allowing the data user to automatically retrieve the data free of charge. This section also includes background summaries of forest inventory systems, remote sensing programs, and important data sets not yet formally documented using the MGMG. These summaries include links to Internet homepages maintained by the data developers and/or distributors, online user guides, and other sources of important information.

Rare Plants and Animals - Currently, this section consists of links to the Minnesota County Biological Survey, the Minnesota Natural Heritage Program, and Minnesota's List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species.

General Wildlife and Plants - During the summer of 1997, the IIC began to develop a catalog of metadata records for forestry-related fish and wildlife database attributes using the MGMG. This catalog currently consists of approximately 70 metadata records. These metadata are intended to be the basis of a continuing effort to document wildlife databases throughout the State of Minnesota. These documented wildlife databases are the products of ongoing collection and monitoring efforts or are significant completed collection efforts from the past. The results of a number of wildlife data collection efforts are reported only in paper files. These datasets are not included in this catalog because of the focus on electronically accessible information.

Natural Physical Data - The Natural Physical section consists of the following four themes: (1) Soils, (2) Hydrology and Climate, (3) Topography, and (4) Minerals and Surficial Geology. In addition to the metadata records developed by the IIC, this section also includes numerous metadata records developed by various federal, state, county and local government agencies, and private data providers. Some of these metadata records have an online linkage to the database, allowing the data user to automatically retrieve the data free of charge. This section also includes background summaries of important data sets not yet formally documented using the MGMG. These summaries include links to Internet homepages maintained by the data developers and/or distributors, online user guides, and other sources of important information.

Strategic Plans - The IIC's Strategic Planning Metadata Project was conducted in the summer of 1997 to provide an overview of planning that impacts forest resources in Minnesota and to document existing plans using the MGMG. These metadata records include contact information for the plan's originator, as well as information about the plan's contents, purpose, spatial extent and revision frequency. This inventory includes approximately 150 plans from federal, state, and local units of government and private organizations. Managers of major land areas and other resources were contacted. Many conduct planning at several levels. This inventory focused on the more comprehensive planning efforts. In addition to the agencies that directly manage resources, agencies and organizations such as Minnesota Planning, the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission, and The Nature Conservancy, that work with resource managers to do broad-based planning were also contacted.

ECS Overview - An overview of the Ecological Classification System that is being developed for Minnesota is presented in some detail. The following initial four sections of the overview provide background information on ECS: What is an Ecosystem ; What is an Ecological Classification System; History of ECS; Why is the DNR developing an ECS. The last section illustrates, with the use of satellite imagery and other graphical depictions, how the various ECS levels were constructed.

Archaeological and Historic - The Archaeological and Historic section consists of the following two themes: (1) Archaeological and Historic, and (2) Mn/Model.

Land Use - In addition to the metadata records developed by the IIC, the Land Use section also includes numerous metadata records developed by various federal, state, county and local government agencies, and private data providers. Some of these metadata records have an online linkage to the database, allowing the data user to automatically retrieve the data free of charge. This section also includes background summaries of important data sets not yet formally documented using the MGMG. These summaries include links to Internet homepages maintained by the data developers and/or distributors, online user guides, and other sources of important information.

Land Ownership and Political - The Administrative and Political section consists of the following three themes: (1) Administrative and Political Boundaries, (2) Land Ownership, and (3) Census Data. In addition to the metadata records developed by the IIC, this section also includes numerous metadata records developed by various federal, state, county and local government agencies, and private data providers. Some of these metadata records have an online linkage to the database, allowing the data user to automatically retrieve the data free of charge. This section also includes background summaries of important data sets not yet formally documented using the MGMG. These summaries include links to Internet homepages maintained by the data developers and/or distributors, online user guides, and other sources of important information.

Roads and Trails - The Transportation section consists of the following three themes: (1) Public Highways, Railroads, Airports, and Utilities, (2) Forest Roads and Trails, and (3) Public Recreation Trails. In addition to the metadata records developed by the IIC, this section includes numerous metadata records developed by various federal, state, county and local government agencies, and private data providers. Some of these metadata records have an online linkage to the database, allowing the data user to automatically retrieve the data free of charge. This section also includes background summaries of important data sets not yet formally documented using the MGMG. These summaries include links to Internet homepages maintained by the data developers and/or distributors, online user guides, and other sources of important information.

Forest Resources Council Landscapes - The Forest Resources Council Landscapes pages consist two main parts (1) a summary of the landscape program and (2) information (assessments) collected for the individual landscapes. Currently only the Northeast landscape has been intiated, with the North central and Southeast to be started by summer 1999.