Open Space Council's Blog

Explore the Bay Area with Explorer

Are you curious about what sensitive species might live on a particular property?

Do you know what native plants thrive in your park?

How does your potential acquisition fit into the Conservation Lands Network?

These questions, and many more, can be answered using the Explorer tool.  This web-based interactive mapping tool offers ready access to the project’s data and recommendations to everyone regardless of GIS skill level.  A conservation practitioner or planner can outline a property or area of interest to display a Biodiversity Portfolio Report for the property which provides the vegetation types, fine filter conservation targets, conservation suitability, priority streams, Conservation Lands Network status, and many more biodiversity variables.

 Click here to access the Explorer.  And beware, you can lose a few hours looking around!

 

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The Conservation Lands Network has launched and will change how conservation in the Bay Area is done.  In concert with Bay Nature’s article Big Plans, Wild Lands, we will be profiling the Network, the accompanying tools and how you can take action on our blog this week.  Learn more at BayAreaLands.org and tell your friends.

We thank the funders of the Upland Habitat Goals Project and invite you to join them in supporting regional, science-based conservation planning.  Click here to contribute.

 

In Others' Words

 

We have received a lot of calls and emails since yesterday's announcement of the Conservation Lands Network.  We'd like to share this one with you:

Thanks so much for this rather incredible work.  There may be hope for the American Badger now.
Best regards,

Susan Kirks

www.paulalaneactionnetwork.org 

 

Maps! Maps! Maps!

We love maps here at the Open Space Council.   The map of the Conservation Lands Network is part of a remarkable five year science-based study by over 125 organizations and individuals tasked to identify the most essential lands needed to sustain the “natural infrastructure” of our region -- a functioning web of life that gives us freshwater, wildlife, local food, fresh air and beautiful places.   Over 4.3 million acres were studied and over 1,000 variables were considered – from redwood forests to California red legged frog habitats, from climate change to migratory routes. 

These maps are available for download at BayAreaLands.org and exist in a format that's easy to move around, zoom in and out, and look at many variables on Explorer.  

Thanks to GreenInfo Network (Louis Jaffe, Maegan Leslie Torres) and our own Ryan Branciforte for their work on these maps and cartographic expertise.  Questions?  Email Ryan at ryan [at] openspacecouncil [dot] org.  

 

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The Conservation Lands Network has launched and will change how conservation in the Bay Area is done.  In concert with Bay Nature’s article Big Plans, Wild Lands, we will be profiling the Network, the accompanying tools and how you can take action on our blog this week.  Learn more at BayAreaLands.organd tell your friends.

We thank the funders of the Upland Habitat Goals Project and invite you to join them in supporting regional, science-based conservation planning.  Click here to contribute.

 

Introducing the Conservation Lands Network!

Clean water and fresh air.

Tourist-enticing vistas.

Healthy rural and agricultural economies.

Habitat for native and imperiled plants and animals.

Local food that supplies a world-class culinary movement.

Crop pollination and resilience to climate change.

Outdoor classrooms for our children.

Migratory corridors for birds and mountain lions.

Places to play and renew our spirits.

In addition to these, there are countless benefits to the conservation of land in the Bay Area.  These are benefits to all living things and for many generations of them.  The Open Space Council is excited to announce the launch of the Conservation Lands Network and a vision for how we can work together to realize these benefits.  

   

The Conservation Lands Network is the configuration of habitats and linkages needed to meet the goals for biodiversity conservation.  This includes all lands in the nine counties of the Bay Area – including those already protected.  It is a guide and not a list of priority properties.

The Conservation Lands Network means more acres conserved and linked together across ownerships. It means protecting our “natural infrastructure” even as we build roads, railways and houses. It means supporting great agricultural land stewardship and greener urban lifestyles. These are actions that protect and build upon the tremendous investments that have already been made in land conservation in the Bay Area.  

Click here to learn more about the project and find out how the Conservation Lands Network can change the way you work.

 

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The Conservation Lands Network has launched and will change how conservation in the Bay Area is done.  In concert with Bay Nature’s article Big Plans, Wild Lands, we will be profiling the Network, the accompanying tools and how you can take action on our blog this week.  Learn more at BayAreaLands.org and tell your friends.

We thank the funders of the Upland Habitat Goals Project and invite you to join them in supporting regional, science-based conservation planning.  Click here to contribute.

 

 

Event: The "How To" for the Explorer Online Tool, Jan 26

There are still 4 spots left in our upcoming workshop on January 26.  If you acquire and/or manage land in the Bay Area and if you don't know GIS very well then you might enjoy and/or benefit from a few hours with the Upland Habitat Team and a computer.  

The Upland Habitat Goals Explorer –one of the products of the Upland Habitat Goals Project - is a web-based interactive mapping tool that offers ready access to the project’s data and recommendations to everyone regardless of GIS skill level.  A conservation practitioner or land use planner can outline a property or area of interest to display a Biodiversity Portfolio Report detailing the property’s vegetation types, conservation suitability, proximity to or inclusion in the Conservation Lands Network, conservation targets, and a host of additional information.  For more information about the project and the Explorer, click here.

For more experienced GIS users, there will be a full-day workshop on February 15th which will cover the Explorer as well as the full GIS database, methodology, modeling and other analysis that went into the Upland Habitat Goals project. OurEvents page will have more information as it is available.

Send any questions and your wish to register by email to Nancy Schaefer at nschaefer1@comcast.net.

 

Event: Workshop on Upland Habitat Goals Explorer, January 26

If you acquire and/or manage land in the Bay Area and if you don't know GIS very well then you might enjoy and/or benefit from our upcoming workshop:

 

This workshop is intended for leaders and managers who are actively acquiring and managing land in the Bay Area.  Knowledge of GIS is not necessary.  

The Upland Habitat Goals Explorer –one of the products of the Upland Habitat Goals Project - is a web-based interactive mapping tool that offers ready access to the project’s data and recommendations to everyone regardless of GIS skill level.  A conservation practitioner or land use planner can outline a property or area of interest to display a Biodiversity Portfolio Report detailing the property’s vegetation types, conservation suitability, proximity to or inclusion in the Conservation Lands Network, conservation targets, and a host of additional information.  For more information about the project and the Explorer, click here.

For more experienced GIS users, there will be a full-day workshop on February 15th which will cover the Explorer as well as the full GIS database, methodology, modeling and other analysis that went into the Upland Habitat Goals project. Our Events page will have more information as it is available.

Send any questions and your wish to register by email to Nancy Schaefer at nschaefer1@comcast.net.

 

 

Upland Habitat Goals receives support from Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC)

The Open Space Council's Upland Habitat Goals project just got one big step closer to being complete.  We learned yesterday that we will receive support from the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC) and we are so grateful and excited!  Our thanks goes to the Interim Steering Committee of the LCC of Region 8, Pacific Southwest.  Thank you!

Eleven projects that will help to build a foundation of  information and lead to decision-support tools for resource managers including species assessments, habitat conditions, and data and monitoring protocols have received $858,007 under a new collaborative program called the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC). Facilitated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this program focuses on landscape-scale planning and collaboration across science and management disciplines to address the conservation challenges necessitated by climate change.  

The press release about the grants can be found here.  More information about the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative is available here. 

Learn more about the Upland Habitat Goals project:

• The project's website
• Last week's blog post about the Climate Change Workshop at Pepperwood Preserve

Conservation Planning in a Changing World

The Open Space Council has long been concerned that time is running out to protect the region’s remaining biodiversity.  Yet, the Bay Area has lacked a scientific vision for a network of protected lands that preserves biological diversity and allows conservation practitioners to evaluate a potential project’s contribution toward this goal. 

Enter the Upland Habitat Goals project.

The project, supported by numerous public and private grants, has employed a scientific approach to identify a network of conservation lands to preserve the ecological processes and functions required for species viability.  More information about the project is coming soon as we launch the online decision tool later this summer.  Stay tuned.

But what happens when climate change affects the lands, animals and vegetation that we're trying to protect?

Enter David Ackerly of UC Berkeley.

With support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, David and the Open Space Council just held a 3 day workshop on July 19-21 at Pepperwood Preserve to incorporate climate change projections into the Upland Habitat Goals.

The results?


23 top researchers in the field worked collaboratively to figure out ways to incorporate climate change modeling into land conservation efforts in the Bay Area. Using the Upland Habitat Goals GIS database the group is developing data, techniques, and processes to better prioritize our conservation lands considering climate change.

Thank you to all who participated and contributed their knowledge, time, and willingness to collaborate.  The Bay Area's future is brighter because of you.

We will be convening a meeting in early November for scientists, land managers, and decision makers where we'll review the data and give a tour of the online tool.  We'll share information about that meeting here on the blog and via email when we have it confirmed.