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related to vegetation communities and wildlife habitat, and structure assessment was developed to provide an "objective,
explains how to manage the habitat, survey and monitor for independent and equitable quantitative system for identify-
wildlife, implement best management practices and conser- ing natural resource improvement opportunities." Mary-
vation actions, and pursue landowner opportunities (Rousso land's SHA responded to the survey associated with this
and Hoehn 2009). research that the Green Infrastructure Assessment has been
useful during the highway design process to locate potential
forest, wetland, and stream mitigation sites. The database
Case Study 2. Vermont Wildlife Linkages has the capacity for "layering in" a variety of natural and
And Maryland's Greenprint Program: Two
Alternatives To Looking At Important cultural resource information into a GIS format. It also has
Landscape Linkages the potential to provide useful information to planners early
in the highway planning process. A Smart Map technology
was developed to build on the Green Infrastructure data to
Twenty-two respondents from across the United States iden- integrate local land uses and other socioeconomic and envi-
tified the need to identify, map, and prioritize wildlife con- ronmental resources. This approach has formed the basis
nectivity in states and across regions. The majority of efforts for a collaborative watershed approach to environmental
in mapping wildlife corridors and areas of connectivity have mitigation for highway projects. This system of GIS data on
occurred in western states (e.g., Arizona). The following two natural resources is much broader than a wildlife linkages
examples demonstrate how two east coast states have tackled system. It is presented in this case study because it provides
wildlife connectivity using different approaches. In states an example of how a state with little of its original wildlife
with more intact ecosystems that support a large component communities remaining can prioritize lands and mitigation
of original wildlife species, connectivity can be based on based on other ecological attributes, such as wetlands and
wildlife movements and preferred habitat modeling. In states natural communities.
with little of the original species' assemblages, wildlife con-
nectivity mapping is carried out by linking (through protec-
tion or restoration) the remaining ecologically intact lands. Case Study 3. National Level Efforts To
Standardize Geographic Information System
Data Dealing With Natural Resources
In 2006, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans)
and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Agency released "Ver-
mont Wildlife Linkage Habitat Analysis: A GIS-Based, A recurring theme in survey responses was the need to
Landscape Level Identification of Potentially Significant standardize data available in a GIS format, and to have all
Wildlife Linkage Habitats Associated with State of Vermont data layers in the same place. If professionals can go to a
Roadways." This mapping research is presented as a case single source, or at least have the GIS resources provided in
study because it was part of an effort that involved work similar formats, then they can more efficiently and timely
among personnel of the two agencies to better understand consider environmental resources during ecological survey
and address the issues associated with wildlife and roads. efforts. Needs for standards have begun to be addressed for
The linkages report and database were developed from a transportation engineers with TERRA, the Transportation
GIS-based landscape-level model designed to predict loca- Engineering and Road Research Alliance, which is a part-
tions of potentially significant wildlife linkage habitats asso- nership of government, industry, and academia that continu-
ciated with state highways. The limitations of this report and ously advances innovations in road design. Perhaps a similar
data are that they are specific to only highways: the core central standards organization can be brought together to
areas and connectivity zones appear to be defined solely near assist transportation biologists working at the crossroads
these roads and are not broad-based zones across the land- of the natural environment and transportation. The natural
scape and for other roadways. The findings assist in mitiga- world is managed and regulated by multiple agencies and
tion directly related to those specific highways, but do little it is dynamic. Methods of data gathering and access are
to help with large-scale long-term planning in areas away quite varied as well. It may not be possible to standardize
from the road, or areas where new road projects may go. data methodologies for things as varied as the coastline in
Future efforts may address the broader landscape. an estuary, the parts per million of a particular pollutant,
acoustic surveys of bats, or satellite imagery of a prairie. A
In 2001, the Maryland state legislature created the Green- central standards organization, nonetheless, can begin to
Print Program. It was designed to protect lands critical to refer users to standards created by national entities, such as
long-term ecological health of the state. The lands identified NatureServe's Natural Heritage program.
in this project became known as Maryland's Green Infra-
structure [see Maryland Green Infrastructure Assessment in Although the bioregions of United States are quite vari-
References]. The objective of this program is to protect the able, efforts to establish several GIS data standards are under
most valuable remaining ecological lands in the entire state, way. The National Geospatial Program, for example, was
not only those along highway corridors. The Green Infra- developed by the USGS. It provides leadership for USGS
