Enhancement and Integration of Natural Resource Information Systems in Support of Illinois Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan. Project 2: Mapping of Illinois Department of Natural Resources Owned, Managed, and Leased Properties

Illinois Department of Natural Resources Grant/Contract No: D8314 / 1-597259-375013-191100 and D7981 / 1-596723-375012-191100The Owned, Managed, and Leased Properties (OMLP) project was initiated in the fall of 2003 and is an on-going effort. The main tasks during the first two phases of the OMLP project, initiated under State Wildlife Grants T-03-P-001 and T-02-P-001, were to establish procedures and standards for data capture and management into a GIS framework, and to create a geospatial geodatabase for IDNR properties acquired with federal and dedicated funds (e.g. Habitat, Pheasant, Migratory Waterfowl Stamp and Furbearer funds). This early focus was needed as no way existed that would guide the planning of conservation practices allowable on those properties. Once the special funds’ properties are completed, mapping work will be continued on the remaining state properties. The geodatabase created for the O MLP project contains property boundaries at the parcel level and has been designed with the capability of mapping outer extent property boundaries, interior parcel lines, easement boundaries, lease boundaries, and land use information. A large portion of the mapping project has involved the thorough researching of existing paper and database records for each property. Extensive paper records have been collected over the years and each file has to be reviewed for relevant and critical historical information concerning appropriate uses and limitations on conservation practices inherent in each property. Most properties consist of multiple parcels; some of the more complex properties have hundreds of parcels. Under this proposal, the GIS mapping of the IDNR OMLP data will continue as work progresses on re cording of all remaining properties into the standardized and accurate geodatabase structure that was developed during the first two phases of the mapping project. Properties that were prioritized lower in the immediate needs schedule will be mapped during this third Phase of the project. As part of this project, a procedure manual outlining methodology and associated protocols using ESRI’s ArcGIS software has been developed. This procedure manual will institutionalize the maintenance of the OMLP database and the inputting of new property acquisitions into the existing geodatabase. This will ensure that the OMLP information will be kept current and accurate, as existing IDNR staff will have their workloads adjusted to accommodate the OMLP database day-to-day housekeeping tasks. This institutionalization is critical to maintaining up-to-date property boundaries for the accurate tracking of conservation management practices on all IDN R owned and leased properties. The procedure manual will be updated as needed, during additional phases of this project. To maximize its usefulness as information and planning tool, the OMLP database has been designed for integration with other agency databases. This will facilitate coordinated conservation management activity efforts within IDNR in support of the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan.INHS Technical Report Prepared for Illinois Department of Natural Resource