Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Planning Wildlife Tool topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DWR releases Wildlife Habitat Analysis Tool for quick species and habitat summaries in project areas
Summary
The Division of Wildlife Resources introduced a public Wildlife Habitat Analysis Tool that produces occurrence summaries, habitat layers and downloadable reports to help WRI applicants identify species of conservation need and draft mitigation measures.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources rolled out a Wildlife Habitat Analysis Tool aimed at non‑specialists preparing WRI proposals and other project reviews; the tool returns occurrence summaries, habitat polygons and mitigation suggestions for a user‑defined project polygon.
Maeve (DWR, Data Services and Geospatial/Heritage program) demonstrated the map interface and report generator. Users create a project polygon by drawing, uploading or searching, then the tool queries DWR occurrence data and public layers (migration corridors, key habitats, SGCN lists and new 2025 Wildlife Action Plan species lists) and produces a PDF report giving species observed within a half‑mile and one‑mile buffer, suggested mitigation strategies and contact information for regional impact‑analysis biologists.
Maeve noted key features: the tool does not provide exact point locations for sensitive species (it reports species names and last‑reported dates instead), it can include multiple background layers and users should dissolve complex multi‑part shapefiles before upload. The tool accepts WRI project polygons and can be used to attach evidence to WRI proposals; Maeve said the 2025 Wildlife Action Plan species lists have already been incorporated.
Maeve encouraged partners to share additional occurrence datasets (e.g., Wildlife Tracker heat maps and other partner datasets) through API connections. She said DWR will add distribution models in later releases to improve predictive value beyond occurrence data.
DWR staff said the tool is publicly available and that impact‑analysis biologists are willing to help applicants interpret results and identify mitigation language for proposals.
