Integration of National-Level Geospatial Ecological Tools and Data (2014)

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24 Use this chapter as a quick-start guide for Eco-Plan and Eco- Plan Advanced. Brief descriptions of the purposes of and differences between Eco-Plan and Eco-Plan Advanced are provided, along with instructions for accessing, navigating, and getting started with both tools. 3.1 Quick-Start Guide to Eco-Plan Eco-Plan is a central resource for current, national geospatial data that can be used to identify and avoid conflicts between ecological assets and transportation plans before the process of complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) begins. Eco-Plan supports transportation planning by providing prepared maps of national ecological data sets that can be used to avoid and minimize transportation impacts. Use Eco-Plan to • Review maps of national ecological data sets. • Find data and other useful geographic information system (GIS) information. • Upload or draw a planning area or transportation network. • Explore conservation priorities as a novice user without GIS skills. Eco-Plan was designed for state and local transportation planners who need access to geospatial environmental and ecological data for transportation planning. It was designed for early project screening before NEPA. Eco-Plan is well suited to support discussions and col- laboration with nontechnical audiences since it easily dis- plays map information. Eco-Plan can be used when trying to find relevant and authoritative national data sets and other tools to support transportation planning. Eco-Plan is not intended to replace detailed analyses using local or field- collected data. 3.1.1 Accessing and Navigating Eco-Plan Access the beta version of Eco-Plan at http://c40-stage.icfweb services.com/. The home page is shown in Figure 3.1. On the home page: 1. Learn about the basic purpose of Eco-Plan and how it differs from Eco-Plan Advanced. 2. Access all features of Eco-Plan through the top navigation banner (Figure 3.2). The top navigation banner is acces- sible on all pages of Eco-Plan and is the best way to move from feature to feature. 3. Respond to three “calls to action”: Use a Map, View Cur- rent Data, and Access GIS Systems (Figure 3.3). These calls to action correspond with “Maps,” “Data,” and “Other Tools” in the top navigation banner. 3.1.2 Eco-Plan Features There are five main features in Eco-Plan, in addition to sup- porting help and information about the tool. Use this section to understand how to access and when to use each feature. 3.1.2.1 Get Started Navigation: On any page, click “Get Started” in the top banner. Description: This page provides an interactive view of sev- eral theme maps that can be quickly toggled. Using the map on the Get Started page (Figure 3.4), zoom in and out to find an area of interest. Use one click to move between theme maps showing protected areas, land cover, critical habitat and at-risk species, watersheds and wetlands, and density. A sim- ple legend describes what is shown on each map. When and how to use this feature: Get Started is for first- time Eco-Plan users. 1. Go to the page and allow all of the maps to load. The page loads seven maps with over 10 live data layers directly C h a P t E r 3 Using Eco-Plan and Eco-Plan Advanced

25 from their federal sources. Some of the data layers may be slow to load. Once all seven maps have been loaded, the “7. Next steps” section of the map will appear. 2. Click the “1. Find your area” box and navigate to the area of interest by using the map zoom controls and dragging the map location. Or zoom far out and define a zoom-in box area by holding the Shift key while also pushing the left mouse button to draw a box outline from upper left to lower right. Use the streets map to understand the exist- ing transportation network. 3. Click the “2. Review protected areas” box to see the exact same location with overlaying information about pro- tected areas. Click the “Legend” box to show or hide the map legend. 4. Click the “3. Explore land cover” box to investigate land use planning for a habitat type. Figure 3.1. Eco-Plan home page. Figure 3.2. Eco-Plan top navigation banner.

26 5. Click the “4. Identify Critical habitat and species at risk” box to view possible critical habitat locations and concen- trations of species at risk. 6. Click the “5. View Watershed and wetlands maps” box to see wetlands, watershed boundaries, water monitoring locations, and shoreline in the United States. 7. Click the “6. Review the potential for development in unprotected areas” box to help visualize where environ- mental resources may be at risk due to activity density. 8. Click the “7. Next steps” box to view satellite imagery of the given area and find links to the detailed maps. 3.1.2.2 Ecological Screening Navigation: On any page, click “Ecological Screening” in the top banner. Description: Ecological Screening (Figure 3.5) is a proto- type tool. Draw a shape on the map and find information about wetlands, critical habitats, and protected areas within that shape. Data are currently only available for a subset of states. More states and data sets will be added over time. When and how to use this feature: Use Ecological Screening during early transportation planning as a quick look at avail- able national ecological data within an area of interest. 1. Find an area of interest on the map by clicking, dragging, and using the zoom in/zoom out (+/−) buttons. 2. If the area of interest is shaded grey, Ecological Screening is not yet available. If the basemap is visible for the area of interest, click “Draw shape.” Use the arrow to draw a shape on the map. Make a vertex with each mouse click. Double- click to complete the shape. 3. Available information about critical habitats, wetlands, and protected areas are displayed below the map. Note that if no information is provided, it only means data were not available and does not eliminate the possibility of the presence of critical habitats, wetlands, or protected areas. 4. Use the computer’s “Print Screen” information to save the analysis. 5. Click the “Erase Shape” button prior to drawing a new shape. 3.1.2.3 Maps Navigation: On any page, click “Maps” in the top banner. Description: Maps (Figure 3.6) is a gallery of prepared theme maps combining useful sets of national map services pub- lished by authoritative data providers. When and how to use this feature: Use these maps during early transportation planning as a quick look at available national ecological data sets within an area of interest. These maps pro- vide access to more data sets than Ecological Screening, with national coverage, but do not provide a quantitative screening. Every map includes Summary, Description, How to Use the Map, User Tips, Things to be Aware of, Data Services, and a link to open the map in Eco-Plan Advanced.Figure 3.4. Get Started image on Eco-Plan. Figure 3.5. Ecological Screening image on Eco-Plan. Figure 3.3. Eco-Plan calls to action.

27 3.1.2.4 Data Navigation: On any page, click “Data” in the top banner. Description: Data (Figure 3.7) is a portal of authoritative, national, geospatial data sets that can support transportation planning. This portal only includes map services published by the data provider. This means that the data are current, but data not published through web map services are not available. When and how to use this feature: Search for data, click a data set to view metadata, to learn how it can be used, and to open the data set in the provider’s web map service. Access the data through Eco-Plan Advanced for functions like select- ing multiple data sets to view on a map, adding state or local data, and conducting analysis. 3.1.2.5 Other Tools Navigation: On any page, click “Other Tools” in the top banner. Description: Other Tools (Figure 3.8) provides access to and descriptions of a range of other GIS tools that support inte- grated transportation and ecological planning. When and how to use this feature: Use this portal as a refer- ence library to learn about unique features of available tools, understand how each tool complements Eco-Plan, and access each tool directly. Tools are grouped by their geographic cov- erage (National, Regional/State, and Local). Read highlights about each tool on the main page, or click an individual tool for detailed information like analytical functions and reports available, data types or data sets used, when to use the tool, things to be aware of, highlights, and accessing information. 3.2 Quick-Start Guide to Eco-Plan Advanced Eco-Plan Advanced, a separate Esri ArcGIS Online organi- zational account, provides all of the information available through Eco-Plan with additional capabilities to • Add any data set to the prepared maps of national ecologi- cal data. • Set up groups to save, share, and comment on maps. • Conduct GIS analysis and create reports. • Perform detailed analysis as an experienced GIS user. Eco-Plan Advanced is intended for GIS users experienced with adding layers to maps and modifying the display proper- ties of map information. 3.2.1 Accessing Eco-Plan Advanced Eco-Plan Advanced is an organization group of ArcGIS Online. It contains the data sets and maps used on the regular Eco-Plan site. To use the map editing features, you must sign up for an ArcGIS Online account. ArcGIS Online offers sev- eral pricing plans for new users, including a free plan. Existing Figure 3.6. Maps image on Eco-Plan. Figure 3.7. Data image on Eco-Plan. Figure 3.8. Other Tools image on Eco-Plan.

28 Esri customers may have AGO access already included with their current subscriptions. Contact your Esri representative for more information. To create a free account, visit the ArcGIS sign-up page at https://www.arcgis.com/home/signin.html and click on the “Create a Public Account” link. Follow the form instructions to create your new account. 3.2.2 Eco-Plan Advanced Features Eco-Plan Advanced has many features; a few of them are doc- umented here. More information can be found on the Eco- Plan Help page at http://c40-stage.icfwebservices.com/ Help or on the AGO Help page at http://www.arcgis.com/ home/support.html. 3.2.2.1 Copy and Update a Theme Map After logging into ArcGIS Online: 1. Use the Search box in the upper left to search for the term “ecoplan theme.” 2. In the resulting list of theme maps, click the desired theme map to open it in the web map viewer. 3. In the map viewer, click the “Save|Save As” link in the top header menu to save a copy of the map to your local account. 4. Customize the map by showing/hiding layers, adding new data, or annotating the map as described below. 3.2.2.2 Create My Own Map After logging into ArcGIS Online: 1. Click the “Map” link in the top header menu, and the typi- cal map viewer will be displayed. 2. Click the “Save” link in the top header menu to save the map to your account. Note: ArcGIS does not automati- cally save your work, so be sure to save the map frequently as you customize it. 3. To add layers to the map: a. Click the “Add” link in the upper right. b. Click the “Search for Layers” link. c. Uncheck the “Within map area” check box if you want to find data that might not be in your current viewable area. d. Add search terms (like “population”) in the “Find” box. e. Click the “Go” button. f. Click the “Add” link on any resulting layers that you want to add to your map. Note: Some layers may take a while to load onto the map. 4. To show/hide data layers on the map: a. Click the “Details” link in the upper right. b. Click the “Contents” link. c. Check/uncheck the data layers to show/hide data layers. 5. To format editable layers: a. Click the “Details” link in the upper right. b. Click the “Contents” link. c. Hover your mouse over the data layer to format, and click the drop-down arrow that appears. d. Select “Transparency” to increase the transparency (25%–30% is usually good) to a value that allows underlying data to be seen through the layer. e. Select “Set Visibility Range” to determine the zoom lev- els at which the data layer will appear. Data sets with lots of individual points often look better when only visible at levels below “County.” f. Select “Configure Pop-up” to customize the layout, labels, and field data displayed on the Pop-up window. g. Select “Change Symbols” to change the color, size, and symbols used in the data layer. 3.2.2.3 Load My Own Data onto a Map After logging into ArcGIS Online: 1. Click the “Add” link in the upper right. 2. Click the “Add Layer from File” link. 3. Follow the instructions to load your zipped shapefile (.zip) onto the map. A shapefile is a common GIS vector storage format that stores spatial data and associated attributes in the form of “points,” “lines,” or “polygons.” Note: There may be restrictions like the file size (10 MB) or number of features (1,000) on the file upload.