Presenter demonstrates free ArcGIS wetlands mapping tool for conservation planning

Joan Spalding demonstrated the free ArcGIS mapping tool and associated wetlands resources, showing commissioners aerial imagery, LiDAR elevation data, National Wetlands Inventory layers, hydric soils, drainage and property boundary layers useful for wetland identification and planning. She noted that "maps can be customized, saved, and used as a planning and decisionmaking tool." The demonstration used the Black Spruce area as an example and provided links and contact information for additional DES wetlands resources and trainings.

Commissioners discussed practical uses for the tool in conservation planning, wetland delineation and easement monitoring and compared the free tools with paid options. Ned Beecher and other commissioners noted that Chocorua Lake Conservancy uses a landscape-management product that integrates mapping with mobile devices but costs about $2,000 a year; the Commission discussed inviting the conservancy to demonstrate that software at a future meeting.