Vegetation - Mojave Desert for DRECP - Final [ds735]

Aerial Information Systems (AIS) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) with assistance from the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) created a fine-scale vegetation map of portions of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts in California. Approximately six million acres spanning desert portions of Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial Counties were mapped between 2011 and 2012. In addition, mapping of 95,981acres within a portion of Rice and Vidal Valleys in the Colorado Desert portion of the Sonoran Desert was completed by AIS in 2013‐2014. The maps were primarily produced to support the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) by helping planners more accurately identify high quality habitat and rare communities as they consider renewable energy sources and conservation opportunities. Previous vegetation maps of the area were either large scale and generalized or they were detailed but covered a limited extent. Between 2014 and 2016, as an extension to supplement those mapping efforts, AIS was tasked to create a fine‐scale vegetation map of 2,195,415 acres of desert in Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial Counties in southern California. Areas mapped include the eastern and central portions of the Mojave Desert as well as the Lower Colorado Valley, also referred to as the Colorado Desert, and the Arizona Upland subdivisions of the Sonoran Desert. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contracted Aerial Information Systems, Inc. (AIS) to continue vegetation classification development and fine-scale vegetation mapping of 1,016,668 acres over four subareas within Inyo, Kern, and Imperial counties of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) region. The four subareas are designated as Salton Sea South (224,763 acres), Jawbone South (204,133 acres), Owens Valley (392,906 acres), and Picacho (194,866 acres). The vegetation classification follows Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and National Vegetation Classification Standards (NVCS). The classification is based on previous survey and classification work. The map was produced applying heads-up digitizing techniques using a base of true-color and color infrared 2010, 2014, 2016 or 2018 one-meter National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery in conjunction with ancillary data and imagery sources. Map polygons were assessed for Vegetation Type, Percent Cover, Exotics, Development Disturbance, and other attributes. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 10 acres; exceptions are made for wetlands and certain wash types (which were mapped to a one or five acre MMU) and areas characterized as Land Use polygons (which were mapped to a 2.5 acre MMU). Field reconnaissance and accuracy assessment enhanced map quality. A total of 85,985 map polygons representing 180 vegetation map classes were developed. For detailed information please refer to the following reports: Menke, J., E. Reyes, A. Glass, D. Johnson, and J. Reyes. 2013. 2013 California Vegetation Map in Support of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Final Report. Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Renewable Energy Program and the California Energy Commission. Aerial Information Systems, Inc., Redlands, CA. Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP). 2013. 2013 California desert vegetation map and accuracy assessment in support of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Final Report. Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Renewable Energy Program and the California Energy Commission. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA. Menke, J., E. Reyes, A. Hepburn, D. Johnson, and J. Reyes. 2016. California Vegetation Map in Support of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (2014-2016 Additions). Final Report. Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Renewable Energy Program and the California Energy Commission. Aerial Information Systems, Inc., Redlands, CA. Reyes, E., J. Evens, A. Glass, K. Sikes, T. Keeler-Wolf, S. Winitsky, D. Johnson, J. Menke, and A. Hepburn. 2020. California Vegetation Map in Support of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, Contract L17PD01212. Final Report. Prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Aerial Information Systems, Inc., Redlands, CA. Reyes, E., A. Glass, J. Menke, J. Evens, K. Sikes, T. Keeler-Wolf, D. Johnson, S. Winitsky, and A. Hepburn. 2021. California Vegetation Map in Support of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, Contract L17PX00036. Final Report. Prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Aerial Information Systems, Inc., Redlands, CA. Reyes, E., J. Evens, J. Fulton, A. Glass, K. Sikes, T. Keeler-Wolf, D. Johnson, S. Vu, and A. Hepburn. 2023. California Vegetation Map in Support of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (2023), Contract 140L1218F0102. Final Report. Prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Aerial Information Systems, Inc., Redlands, CA.