Project Information

Title: Standardized High-Resolution Wetlands and Hydrography Data across the EVOS Region 23220508

Project Year and Number: 2023: 23220508

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2024: 24220508, 2022: 22220508, 2021: 21210129

Principal Investigator (PI): Sydney Thielke (USFWS), Leslie Jones (Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources), Brian Wright (USGS)

Managing Agency: ADNR

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location:

Restoration Category: General Restoration, Habitat Protection

Injured Resources Addressed: Not Specified

Abstract:

This is an extension of the project, Standardized High-Resolution Wetlands and Hydrography Data across the EVOS Region, funded by the EVOSTC for FY2021 to produce wetland and hydrologic data for EVOS region watersheds. Continuous coverage of high-resolution NWI and NHD products do not exist for the EVOS region, yet these data are critically important for continued management and recovery of injured resources and services. This proposal requests $3.7 million to update wetlands mapping across 17 million acres (including the lower Copper River and Bering Glacier watersheds), update hydrography mapping on 2.5 million acres of the Bering River watershed, and collect 670,000 acres of LiDAR data to enhance wetland mapping in the Copper River Delta. The final products will be integrated into statewide databases, compliant with national standards, and publicly available.

The NWI provides the location, characteristics and extent of wetlands, intertidal, and nearshore marine habitats. The NHD characterizes water drainage networks, including features such as rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, glaciers, and watersheds. The NWI and NHD are used, where available in Alaska, for habitat management, species assessments (including anadromous waters), and to make informed decisions about development activities. The data serve as baseline geospatial information needed to monitor aquatic and wetland dependent species, including those that move between freshwater and marine habitats such as salmon and migratory birds. This includes providing information about coastal wetlands and the contribution of freshwater inputs to estuarine and nearshore habitats. This proposal will provide geospatial data that can be used to assess intertidal systems, from the headwater inputs to marine interface, that support habitat for injured species and injured subsistence and recreation activities.

This project was approved for the FY22-FY26 funding cycle.


Proposal: View (1,918 KB)

Reports:
FY23 Q1 Report: View (1,065 KB)
FY23 Q2 Report: View (330 KB)
FY23 Q3 Report: View (356 KB)
FY23 Q4 Report: View (349 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available

Resolutions: