Compilation and Assessment of Resource Values and Hazards to Inform Transportation and Associated Land-use Planning

Management of transportation networks is affected by, and has effects on, natural and cultural resources through direct and indirect interactions. Until recently, the availability of such spatially explicit information has been limited; however, the data released here to the public will prove valuable for comparing existing networks and planning options with respect to potential impact to, or from, environmental factors across broad areas, for example, States and Agency Planning Regions. Integrated network and resource analyses can provide insights into potential construction and maintenance costs as well as safety risks and environmental impacts during project planning and assessment.

A cooperative project was created by an agreement between Federal Lands and Highways (FLH) and USGS Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) to facilitate development of the spatially-explicit information necessary for transportation planning, and an associated internet-based query and reporting tool, to provide more comprehensive natural and cultural resource information for transportation planning. As such, this agreement facilitated provision of services to support Federal Lands Highways (FLH) nationwide initiatives on Transportation Planning and Asset Management. This effort is expected to support multiple federal partners including the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in their planning processes.