Project Description
Continuous coverage of high-resolution National Wetland Inventory (NWI) and National Hydrologic Database (NHD) products do not exist for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill region, yet these data are critically important for continued management and recovery of injured resources and services. This project aims to update wetlands and hydrography mapping across 31.5 million acres (including the lower Copper River and Bering Glacier watersheds). 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.
Restoration Land Ownership
Bureau of Land Management; County or Municipal; Fish and Wildlife Service; National Park Service; Private; State; Tribal; Unknown
Parties Implementing Restoration
Alaska Department of Natural Resources; United States Geological Survey
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service