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USGS launches Land Treatment Exploration Tool to help planners find and learn from past BLM treatments
Summary
USGS presented a public Land Treatment Exploration Tool (LTET) that aggregates BLM legacy treatments, monitoring, LANDFIRE and other layers to help managers identify past treatments, compare outcomes and generate planning reports.
USGS researchers demonstrated the Land Treatment Exploration Tool (LTET), a public web application that makes Bureau of Land Management treatment records, monitoring points and contextual geospatial layers searchable and reportable for post‑fire and restoration planning.
Michelle (U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center) explained LTET builds on the Land Treatment Digital Library (a transcribed archive of legacy BLM treatment records dating back to the early 1900s) and links that archive to modern VMAP/INFORM implementation records and AIM monitoring points. The LTET interface lets users define a project polygon, summarize site metrics (seed zones, LANDIFRE cover and drought history), and locate past treatments that match user filters (for example, drill seeding after fire with recorded outcomes).
Michelle walked through a Cherry Creek Road wildfire example: LTET returned past treatments in the ecoregion, allowed filtering for seedings that recorded outcomes, displayed treatment‑level metadata and seed lists, and produced a downloadable project report with maps and notes. The tool also offers an ecological drought forecast layer (a 6‑month historical and 12‑month forecast of soil moisture, temperature and precipitation) that helps estimate short‑term seeding success probabilities.
USGS said LTET currently includes BLM legacy treatments (25,000+ projects comprising 71,000+ treatments) and many contextual spatial layers (seed zones, LANDFIRE, AIM and LOTIC monitoring points, wetlands, drought indices and others). The tool integrates with the Fish and Wildlife Service IPaC (planning and consultation) API so users can flag federally listed species and wetlands in their polygon. USGS encouraged users to consult monitoring records and AIM data and to use LTET reports as evidence in planning and NEPA documentation.
Michelle said the LTET team is expanding data partners and will keep improving layers and tutorials; she provided the project contact and public landing page.
