| Conservation Atlas to be on
Internet
January 20, 2003 By Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun 399 North D Street San Bernardino, CA 92401 909-386-3844 To submit a Letter to the Editor: carolyn.schatz@sbsun.com (100-word limit -- no kidding!) Victorville, California - Growth projections for cities in the region, the county's land use plans, natural vegetation, conservation plans and the location of major farmlands will soon be only a click away. The California Digital Conservation Atlas will have it all, plus data on soils, wetlands, rivers and roads, floodplains and natural resource projects. A part of the California Legacy Project, a statewide program being developed by the California Resources Agency, the atlas is expected to be available on the Internet in February. "It will include planning and natural resource data for the entire state," said Marc Hoshovsky, senior biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game's Legacy Project office in Sacramento. "Users of the atlas will be able to view over 45 sets of data, create custom maps and download some information to their own computers," he said. Among sources of data in the atlas are local, state and federal agencies, and the University of California. State agencies include the California departments of conservation, fish and game, forestry and fire protection, parks and recreation and water resources. Among federal agencies are the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Census Bureau, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Agriculture's natural resources conservation service. While valuable for conservation groups, planners, wildlife groups, and others, the atlas has limits and will not be suitable for environmental review or parcel-level work, Hoshovsky said. He said the atlas will be available next month on the Legacy Project's website, at http://www.legacy.ca.gov Through the project, California's Resources Agency is assessing the state's natural resources and wildlife habitat in an effort to develop long-term priorities to conserve lands for diverse uses. "Through this six-year program, the state is taking a more active role in long-term investment strategies to acquire and restore public resources and buy private lands to protect these resources," said Madelyn Glickfeld, the Resources Agency's assistant secretary. "California is developing a variety of plans to cope with growth. As growth occurs, it's necessary to protect the ecosystem, water and habitat." Population growth and land use trends are beginning to weigh heavily on the ecosystem that Californians rely upon, Glickfeld said. The Legacy Project was created in response to increasing threats to the state's landscape and biodiversity, she said. http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1124277,00.html More reading: http://www.legacy.ca.gov/committees.epl (check out who's on their Advisory Committees ... and if this doesn't get your attention, check out the 'staff and consultants' below ... ) http://www.legacy.ca.gov/staff_contrib.epl http://www.legacy.ca.gov/new_atlas.epl?page=atlasWelcome http://www.legacy.ca.gov/new_atlas.epl?page=uc_content |