PIN’s GIS Application on Forest Management

1. PIN’s GIS Application on Forest Management GIS Specialist, M.Sc. Binke Wang* Department of Natural Resources Penobscot Indian Nation * Work completed together with forest staff

2. Agenda • Penobscot Indian Nation (PIN) & its Land Holdings • DNR programs, & GIS facilities, data & services • Timber Resources, Forest management Goals & its Strategic Plan • GIS support to forest road and timber type management • GIS applications on Forest Zone Strategic Management Plan • Summary & Questions

3. PIN Reservation • Located in eastern Maine, federally recognized 1980 • Comprised of >200 islands, from Old Town onto the North • Headquarters at Indian Island, Old Town, Maine

4. 22% 22% 75%@50mi 57% 43% Penobscot People • >2200 Tribal members • 22% on Indian Island, the reservation; • 57% in Maine, 43% in other states, mostly in New England • 75% of Maine Penobscot within 50 mi of Old Town

5. Indian Island • Tribal Government & Community Center located at • Only populated Rez. island, southernmost of Rez. • >500 Tribal members, 22%, reside on • Tribal business & services here as well

6. PIN Land holdings • Reservation Islands: 4424 ac • Trust Land: 96335 ac, • Fee Land: 27398 ac • Total lands: 128157 ac

7. Tribal Government & DNR

8. GIS DNR Programs & GIS

9. Basic GIS Facilities ArcGIS9.1 w/extensions: • 3D Analyst • Spatial Analyst • Geo-statistical Analyst • Publisher • Street Map ALTEK 44x56 Digitizer ArcView3.3 w/extensions: • 3D Analyst • Spatial Analyst • Network Analyst • Image Analysis HP5500uv Plotter

10. General Data availability

11. Typical GIS Services • Overall GIS processing/operations: • New layer capture and update; • Spatial analysis and modeling; • Map design and output; • Database integration and manipulation; • System maintenance, trouble shooting and upgrade • Focus on DNR programs, also other Depts: • DTR, PED, Cultural Resources, • Housing, Maintenance, Public Safety, • Council/Chief & Tribal Members… • Outreached with outside entities for data exchange, tec upgrade: • GIS/eng services, work for the tribe, or on tribal property; • Federal, State, other tribal governments; • Educational/research/technology/academic institutions • Participate in conference, training session & other technology exchange sites as a rep of tribal GIS,

12. Sample Projects completed • Forest: annual timber inventory, update, road inventory, maintenance, classify, update, water classify, update, zone plan/update • Water resources: monitoring site mapping, watershed, discharge, waste disposal facility mapping, spatial analysis; wetland, landfill • Fishery & wildlife: dams, species inventory, gps data organize, habitat, spatial pattern/temporal trend • Air quality: monitoring site maps • DTR/Public safety : E911/indian island access, Rez lot automation, assignment, set-aside • PED/Outreach: alder stream & Carrabassett wind mill layout/analysis, Pine-tree landfill; data provision to business partners; • Housing: lot/background element info, site plan for land development; • Maintenance: Trust land route inventory, mapping • Cultural res: special site plan, historical site mapping • Council/Chief: Tribal member residency vs Indian-island proximity • Tribal members/museum: Miscellaneous maps, game/business navigation, hunting, property mgt

13. PIN Timber Resources • Soft wood is major, hard wood minor; • Some mixed wood, less others: alder; • Quite bit wetland, bog, flowage & water areas; • Timber in all tribal land, management on the trust lands: 69359 ac. Timber types (%@area) in Trust Lands

14. Forest: Resource & Eco-element • Important natural resources: • Timber products • Wildlife habitat; • Critical ecosystem element: • Water resource: wetland, runoff process, ground water; • Soil erosion & water quality; • Mass movement & slope stability; • Micro-climate: ground wind speed, humidity and heat.. • Human being social life: • Historical/cultural sites • Recreational sites • Regional water balance, • Long-term atmosphere circulation & global climate change

15. Basic Goals of Forest Management • Optimize income from logging—timber harvest • Make multiple uses & sustain the yields • Maintain water quality & wetland resources • Protect wildlife & fisheries habitat • Mitigate environmental hazards/damage/degradation • Harmonize nature sustainability vs. human desire • Care for Cultural/historical sites & prized plants/species • Preserve scenic beauty & recreational resources • Maintain access (roads) for management & property usage

16. Integrated Resource Management Plan Water Resource Management Plan Wildlife Management Plan Forest Resource Management Plan Cultural Resource Management Plan Environment Hazard Mitigation Plan Water quality; Wetland resources; Hydrology Population /species; Habitat; Migration Timber types; Forest engineering; Comprehensive resources; Environmental Archeology; Anthropology; Indian history Soil erosion; Mass movement; Avalanche; Beaver damming; Cliff/high elevation Activities operations Activities operations Activities operations Activities operations Activities operations Strategic Plan Program Plan Project Activity Plan

17. GIS/GPS Projects with Forest Management • Timber Type Inventory • Timber Product Harvest • Road Design and Layout • Road Classification and Maintenance • Zoning Strategic Plan of Forest Management • Water body buffer • Road buffer • Wildlife habitat area • Wetland area • Recreational area • Cultural/historical sites • Environment sensitive sites: high elevation, steep slope…

18. GIS/GPS support to Timber Operations • Timber type resources inventory; • Timber product harvest plan; • Timber growth monitoring, • Timber volume estimate • Timber status assessment & potential evaluation • pattern view, • query, • statistical manipulation, • modeling • mapping

19. GIS/GPS support to Forest Road Systems • Road layout design & road network analysis, • Road classification, • Road acreage estimate, • Road engineering: building, maintenance & upgrade, • Access & delivery info for forest management, recreation & other on-site business

20. GIS Operations for Zoning Plan • Linear object buffer: roads, streams; • Polygon object buffer: rivers, wetland, lake/ponds; • Other area delineation: wildlife habitat, recreational/high view areas, high elevation area, extracted/digitized from other layers/sources, GPSed from field; • Set-aside layer creation: cultural/historical sites/areas (no definite boundary), gravel pits, environmental sensitive sites; • Multi-data integration, deliverable finalization: layers, data table or maps.

21. Union sub-layers Calculate overall types Prioritize zone class Fix sliver polys Dissolve redundancy Line buffer Road/Stream Buffer zones Calculate Zone types Roads Streams Temp Polygons Zone Type Layer Union together Poly Buffer Calculate Zone types Water/wetland Buffer zones Rivers, Ponds, Lakes & Wetlands Forest Resource Management Zoning Map/Plan GPS Digitized Extracted Wildlife/View Protection areas Calculate Zone types Deer Wintering areas Recreational Areas Calculate Zone types Extracted From Contour Set aside areas High Elevation Areas Set Aside Point Layer GPS Digitized Set aside Sites Calculate Zone types Set Aside sites Primary objects elements GIS Operations Temp layers GIS operations Final layers/maps GIS Flow Chart

22. Linear Object Buffer • Specify a segment of the objects: roads, or streams—GPS or extracted from existing information; • Identify the class or grade of the road/stream segments; • Assign a buffer distance to the object; • Create buffer • Calculate zone type value

23. Polygon Object Buffer • Specify target areas/polys: ponds, lakes & rivers--extracted from existing information; • Identify the features for buffer sizes; • Assign a buffer distance to a field for each area; • Create buffer • Combine target areas & buffer • Calculate zone type value

24. Other Area Delineation • Deer Wintering area: LURC zoned deer yards, extracted/ digitized • Wetland areas: extracted from the LURC zoned wetlands & other mapped wetlands • Recreational areas: lake sites, Hill top…, , current/potential, GPS/digitized • High elevation (>2700 ft): extracted from a contour layer;

25. Set-Aside Layer • Cultural/historical interest sites, point or no-definite-boundary areas; • Human disturbed sites: gravel pit, • Recreational sites: current or potential: • Boat landing, • Bog area, open area, scenic stretch; • Camp sites; • Public springs GPS/digitized from various sources

26. Multi-data Integration • Union individual transit zone layers • Fix sliver polygons; • Calculate overall zone type values; • Prioritize zone types; • Dissolve redundant boundary • Finalize zone type layers

27. Union sub-layers Calculate overall types Prioritize zone class Fix sliver polys Dissolve redundancy Line buffer Road/Stream Buffer zones Calculate Zone types Roads Streams Temp Polygons Zone Type Layer Union together Poly Buffer Calculate Zone types Water/wetland Buffer zones Rivers, Ponds, Lakes & Wetlands Forest Resource Management Zoning Map/Plan GPS Digitized Extracted Wildlife/View Protection areas Calculate Zone types Deer Wintering areas Recreational Areas Calculate Zone types Extracted From Contour Set aside areas High Elevation Areas Set Aside Point Layer GPS Digitized Set aside Sites Calculate Zone types Set Aside sites Primary objects elements GIS Operations Temp layers GIS operations Final layers/maps GIS Flow Chart

28. Zone Plan 2001 Zoning Maps/Plan • Produced a zone map with polygon and point zone information; • Created statistical zoning data using the attributes; • Made plans 2001 & 2003 • Kept track of new development, maintain data update

29. Zone Plan 2003 Conclusion • Easier, efficient, straight-forward operations; • Create reliable & flexible format of data layers • Provide multiple scenarios for optimum operations. • Critical steps: buffer object identifications; zone type order setting

30. Summary • PIN, a tribe at Penobscot River, Maine, has quite bit of land holdings, including forest resources/environment; • A Forest Program & GIS in the DNR set up to take care of the PIN forest resources & other spatial data issues; • Forest, as a resource & a part of environment, plays a critical role in ecosystem; complicated goals & integrated strategy required for forest management; • GIS applied in the forest management with success, examples presented include: GIS supports forest road maintenance, timber type management, and zone plan creation; • Zone plan made of a series road, water & wetland buffers, and other sensitive protection areas, where GIS applied effectively.

31. Questions? Thanks for your attention!