Digital Geographic Data to Support Long-Term Ecosystem Management

Transcription

1 This file was created by scanning the printed publication. Errors identified by the software have been corrected; however, some errors may remain. Digital Geographic Data to Support Long-Term Ecosystem Management for the Fort Huachuca Region Robert Lozar\ John Wickizer 2, Sheridan Stone 3, David Mouat\ Carl Steinitz 5, Gretchen Kent 6, Winifred Hodge 7, and Robert Anderson 8 Abstract-Fort Huachuca, AZ resides within the Upper San Pedro River Basin. The basin is experiencing a number of challenges with respect to natural resources management issues both on and off the installation. These issues have prompted the Army to take a close look at the interaction between the Army and its regional neighbors over the next several decades. This will include identifying a broad range of alternative future scenarios that are possible within the basin. Through a Geographical Information System (GIS) evaluation effort, possible land use distributions which are most likely to develop as a result of each stated guiding scenario will be predicted. One of the tasks at this initial stage of the project is the assemblage of the GIS database to support the study. INTRODUCTION The Upper San Pedro River Basin, within which Fort Huachuca, AZ resides is recognized for its globally-significant biodiversity value, its aesthetic and recreational value, the presence of a concentration of endangered species, as well as the aquifer which is the sole water source for the region. It is experiencing a number of interrelated challenges with respect to natural resources and natural resource management issues both on and off the installation. The issues of water usage, military mission, urban growth, rural economy and unique natural values have prompted the Army to take a close look at its role relative to these complex issues over 1 Land Planner, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. Champaign IL 2 Master Planner, Fort Huachuca Master Planning Office, AZ 3 Wildlife Biologist, Fort Huachuca Natural Resources, AZ 4 Research Scientist, Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis OR 5 Professor, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge MA 6 National Environmental Impact Coordinator, Fort Huachuca Master Planning Office, AZ 7 Ecologist, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign IL 8 Natural Resources Specialist, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe VA USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

2 the next several decades. Therefore the Department of Defense's Legacy Resource Management Program (Legacy), with the support of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Headquarters, is funding a multi-year project to identify alternative futures for the Upper San Pedro River region under different projections of change over the next few decades. GIS BACKGROUND DATA EFFORT The study area (figure 1) is the Upper San Pedro River basin (probably including the Sonoita Planning Area). Interstate I 0 U.S.- Sonoita Planning Area Fort Huachuca Upper San Pedro Basin Edge Figure 1. Alternative Futures Study Area. 262 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

3 One of the initial tasks of the project, is the assembling of a Geographical Information System (GIS) database to support the study. Data from many sources, in both the U.S. and Mexico, are being assembled from cooperating agencies and organizations. The team has identified several critical data types. The data set being assembled will include spatial information about the existing human environment as well as historical satellite imagery, which is intended to provide a temporal context (figure 2.) for the identification of regional trends. The data being collected will focus on four major themes: Topography, Land Use/Land Cover, Soils, and Population and Demographic characteristics. Figure 2. Upper San Pedro River Basin over a June 1986 satellite image. USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

4 Progress in the development of this supporting data set has been made. An initial survey of.desirable sources has been developed and is presented in table 1. Table 1 can be expected to change as progress is made in the assemblage of the final theme data base. Table 1. Initial data themes to support Alternative Futures study ::::::: :: :::::J.:~~!..~~!!-~f!!!!.~.-~!.~~i_ij.!~j~---~i~i"i iip j : : Da~!!!~!E.~ !Demographic ~l--:l!i~~[ill~""'~~~- Land lxl"unas!:.. :.:rcar;a soijndaii.es _q~~ji!~s.::= ~ -- -=t~ T --~ -~ :...:~.~!3!.~...:=~==--~-~=~ ~~ti-af~~~i-aces... L 1 r i-~~~ S.., cerisi.i"s."tracls -- -t Tiger Data F>ower.NeiWolk m.. TcodiTs.e7sania cn:jz"coi.l"nlv ' : \attributes from counties..._......,. T~CRis -- - t Land.COV$r!Scanned [PointS \modeli :::TtQ: ~~Q;~~~:::::.~:iii~!~r~~~ I~~~.. -.:uu.)s~~gg~~ss:==lnu~-o~ Ag),:-a liind:.ij.itcc... ~o ~fsr:::::.::.:::== Ms s images La:ncfcove.. r -..,. ; Land cowr \USGS NALC Novi ~~ ~~-~~~~ ~: *:u~s~g~s~n~al~c~------~...::=:~~~=lj~~~!iri9.:=~~=:=:~. AP : : usg" /scanne?f : ''''"~~.. i«.j.,,,,,... _.,,~,,-.,.,~,"~"'"'..,..'"''~'-'''''~'''~''''''''"' T,.,,...,,,n! ~ ~ ---~ r ~ ' iunes ot eornmuncation "Roaas: Rai"is.a1c: t tatf!is....!=.1~~~~-~--p.pl_if.l.~~--~!~... illg~!=.i... ~.:QQ~ L..L~Q.9_ GAP!vegetatiOn Vegetation! l... i..... lalris. ~!~~~=~=~-~=~~I:=L==:=== = 7\CR"is ALRIS-Arizona Land Resources Information Systems BLM-Bureau of Land Management DEM-Digital Elevation Model DOC-Department of Census GNIS-Geographical Names Information System LUDA-Land Use/Land Cover Digital Analysis MSS-Multispectral Scanner NALC-North American Land Characterization NVDI-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index USGS-U.S. Geological Survey 264 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

5 We are interested in identifying additional agencies which also are involved in the future of the Upper San Pedro River Basin and who are willing to share some of the digital GIS data in support of this effort. RESOURCES AND CONSTRAINTS FOR THE REGION The Upper San Pedro has an interesting set of regional dynamics. If we develop a listing of the known unique resources of the region it would probably include: High Biodiversity Attractive Climate San Pedro River National Conservation Area Fort Huachuca Sonoita Upland Areas Similarly, a listing of known potential constraints of the region is likely to include: Arid Land Limits of Subsurface Water Availability Impacts to Biodiversity Desirability for Development, Recreation and Retirement. Erosion Potential Stream System Stabilization Clearly there is a high relationship between these two listings. One is tempted to conclude that the area's benefits are also its constraints. It is within this somewhat contrasting environment that the Alternative Futures project must be carried out. POSSIBLE RANGE OF FUTURES AND PROJECT SCHEDULE The study activities will: Include the development of several alternative futures for the Upper San Pedro Region. Generate the distribution of land uses that are likely to result from each alternative over a time horizon of several decades. It is not possible to predict exactly what land use will develop at a specific location, but it is reasonable to expect the mix or proportions of land USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

6 uses within the region to be relatively predictable based on the planning imperative (i.e. the alternative future) followed through time. It is expected that these alternatives will serve as a basis for regional land management decision-making. Include the development of a web-based tool and data access for future regional planning. The data and techniques developed will be made available to local planning agencies. Allow local stakeholders to more clearly see the ramifications of their proposals and actions. Provide an outline, not a plan, of the region's options for change and their likely effects. This outline will be publicly available. This project is part of a three year effort. The first year (fiscal1998) identifies stakeholders and GIS data availability. One of the purposes of this paper is to encourage such groups to identify themselves. In the second year, the data will be used to generate the effects of the alternatives into the future. During the third year final reports will be produced including the Internet website. The website and supporting tools will be transferred to regional users. CONCLUSIONS We are in the initial phases of a three-year planning process to generate possible outcomes of various alternative planning imperatives for the Upper San Pedro Watershed. This project represents the first time the Department of the Army will look at long term regional questions which might arise within the sphere of influence of one of its important training installations, Fort Huachuca. Currently, the authors are in the process of identifying sources of base-line GIS data and cooperating agencies that will collaborate in this work. REFERENCES Department of Community Affairs and Economic Development. Arizona's Growth and the Environment- A World of Difficult Choices. 68th Arizona Town Hall, Phoenix, AZ, May Environmental and Natural Resources Division, Fort Huachuca. Approval of Long Range Land Use and Real Estate Investment Strategy in Support of Real Property Master Planning Environmental Impact Statement. (Internal Review Draft- Not yet published), Environmental and Natural Re- 266 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

7 sources Division, Directorate of Engineering and Housing, US Army Garrison, Fort Huachuca, AZ, February Mouat, David A., Lancaster, Judith. Use of Remote Sensing and GIS to Identify Vegetation Change in the Upper San Pedro River Watershed, Arizona. Geocarto International. Vol. 11, No.2, June Steinitz, C., Binford, M., Cote, P., Edwards, T. Jr., Ervin, S., Forman, R.T., Johnson, C., Kiester, R., Mouat, D., Olson, D., Shearer, A., Toth, R., Wills, R., Biodiverstiy and Landscape Planing: Alternative Futures for the Region of Camp Pendleton, California. Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES Robert C. Lozar is a Community Planner and Principal Investigator with the Army Corps of Engineer's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign IL. He graduated from Harvard University with a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture in He does research in spatial analysis and applications for land and natural resources management. Readers may contact him at r-lozar@cecer.army.mil. John D. Wickizer is the Community Planner at Fort Huachuca, AZ. He graduated from Eastern Washington State University with a Bachelors of Arts (BA) degree in Urban and Regional Planning, in He is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Installation's Real Property Master Plan. Sheridan Stone is the Wildlife Biologist in the Wildlife Section at Fort Huachuca, AZ. He graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana in He manages natural resources on the military reservation to support conservation of biodiversity and sustainable uses of land and natural resources. David Mouat is a Senior Environmental Scientist at the US EPA Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, (on loan from the State of Nevada's Desert Research Institute). He received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1974 for examining the relationships between terrain and vegetation landscape variables. His research focuses on remote sensing and other techniques for assessing landscape dynamics, including desertification in arid and semi-arid areas. Carl Steinitz is the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. He graduated with a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning, with a major in Urban Design, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Steinitz' teaching and research activities concern landscape USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P

8 change, methods of landscape analysis, visual quality and landscape planning and design. Gretchen R. Kent is a Physical Scientist who works in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Directorate of Installation Support, U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Huachuca, AZ. She received her Master of Science Degree in Geology /Geochemistry from Michigan Tech University on She is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Coordinator. In this position she coordinates compliance with the NEPA for organizations on Fort Huachuca, prepares and manages contractors who prepare NEPA analyses and documents and manages physical science, hydrology and geological projects. Winifred Hodge is an ecologist working for the Land Management Laboratory, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories in Champaign, Illinois, USA. HerBS degree is in Soil Science and Land Management from Cornell University in 1983, MS in Ecology and Environmental Management, Arizona State University in 1985, and MAin Political Science, University of Illinois, She provides research to assist US Army and Department of Defense to manage their lands and natural resources for long term stewardship and sustainable use. Robert L. Anderson is a Natural Resources Specialist at Headquarters, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, Environmental Division in Fort Monroe. He received his B.S. from Old Dominion University in 1968, and his M.A. degree from the College of William and Mary in 1988; both are in Biology. Mr. Anderson manages the Natural Resources program for sixteen Army installations in the Training and Doctrine Command. 268 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P