GIS for the Bartlett Hills Association: Increasing Knowledge to Enhance Land Management Practices

The natural world has many unique areas and when there is no management conducted on these areas, they become lost to time. The 800-acre property owned by the Bartlett Hills Association (BHA) in western Iowa is no different. The loess hills are deposits from glaciers 12,000 to 30,000 years ago, and over the last several decades there has been no management of these unique hills on the property. The BHA has established management objectives that will bring its forest back to a sustainable forest and its members want to use GIS to enhance their knowledge. There are currently trails inside the property, but they are at risk for soil erosion and maintenance is difficult to conduct. By creating a model within Model Builder in ArcGIS Desktop 10.2, suitable areas for new trail construction can be located. In addition, several maps and a 3D terrain model were produced to represent different characteristics of the property and provide new knowledge of the property. With the use of spatial analysis and cartographic skills, the BHA can learn more about its unique property and manage the property for future generations