LEOPOLD INSTITUTE 790 E. BECKWITH AVE. MISSOULA, MT 59801 406-542-4190

Wilderness Mapping Activities

The Leopold Institute collaborates with the four federal agencies that administer Wilderness, the USGS, and various partners to develop map products. These include the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) map and the Wilderness GIS boundaries. Leopold Institute involvement ensures a centralized program for compilation, revision, and dissemination. The comprehensive map information generated by the Leopold Institute benefits wilderness managers, wilderness program administrators, educators, researchers, and the general public.

The Leopold Institute supports wilderness management and research through the following wilderness mapping activities:

NATIONAL WILDERNESS MAP - a compilation of all Wildernesses in the NWPS, developed by Dave Spildie and published in collaboration with several partners.

WILDERNESS GIS BOUNDARIES - a compilation of GIS data representing the boundaries of Wildernesses in the NWPS developed in collaboration with the National Atlas program of the USGS.

GIS APPLICATIONS TO WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT - a General Technical Report on the uses and limitations of GIS in wilderness management, co-authored by Dave Spildie and Peter Landres.

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GIS AND WILDERNESS FIRE RESEARCH - research projects using GIS data to help manage and restore fire as a natural process in wilderness.

Digital fire atlases are maps of fire perimeters and can be used to understand where fire has occurred in recent history and where it may likely occur in the future.

Mapping past and potential fire regimes

GIS for fire management planning.

Wildland Fuels Management: Evaluating and planning risks and benefits

Can Wildland Fire Use Restore Historical Fire Regimes in Wilderness and Other Unroaded Lands?

THE VALUE OF WILDERNESS WATER - GIS used to model the contribution of Wilderness water to Fresno, California.

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