Publications

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When we initiated this GIS program, much of the GIS computer software and hardware was difficult and expensive to use or not yet available. Our primary GIS software engine, Arc/Info, still has a steep learning curve and performs best on a UNIX-based machine. However, the recent arrival of ArcView and other desktop GIS software, which can be effectively used on either an IBM-based PC or UNIX system, permits resource scientists and managers to have a GIS on their desktop. Furthermore, they can use a developed GIS with a limited amount of training. We developed the ArcView projects on a PC to identify this potential. We hope to eventually publish the Columbia River Basin salmonid GIS as a compact disk (CD) and make it available to resource agencies.

Developing and building a working GIS is a labor-intensive operation. Obtaining and developing accurate, geo-referenced data are often difficult. Fortunately, we were able to obtain many coverages from other state and federal natural resource agencies.

Although a GIS can assist with many facets of natural resource management, it is only as good as the data it contains. When we first began this project, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission salmonid database (StreamNet) was unavailable. Fortunately these data are now available to all resource agencies. However, many important data sets are still unavailable. For example, although our GIS has adult escapement estimates from many streams, estimates of total run size (harvest plus escapement) for each river and stream are not yet available. Furthermore, information on habitat (water quality, number of pools, riparian vegetation, forest health, etc.) and estimates for salmonid carrying capacity for each river need to be added to the GIS. This appears to be particularly true for most of the watersheds outside the Columbia River Basin, where these types of data are unavailable or very dispersed.

At present, the tabular database supporting the salmonid GIS is in a Info database, which is not easily updated: the entire database must be rebuilt (i.e., queries conducted and related items updated) every time new data are added. This is slow, cumbersome, and inefficient. Recent agreements and software enhancements by Arc/Info and Oracle (a relational database software) now permit Arc/Info to link directly to an Oracle database. We intend to transfer the database to Oracle in the near future, which would eliminate the need to rebuild the database after updates.

Almost every state and federal natural resource agency in the Northwest is developing some kind of GIS. For example, the U.S. National Biological Service is conducting a Gap Analysis Program (GAP) (Jennigs et al. 1996), which is mapping natural land cover, vertebrate species distributions, and lands managed for biological diversity. The objective of GAP is to identify the "gaps" in the network of conservation lands protecting sensitive species. NOAA is conducting a Coastal-Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) (Dobson et al. 1996) which is relating changes in coastal landscapes (using satellite imagery) to changes in living marine resources. State resource agencies are using GIS to identify and track changes in many of their resources. Eventually many of the coverages developed by other agencies can be added to the salmonid GIS (or the salmonid GIS added to their coverages) to allow insightful views of the relationships between topography, watershed vegetation, watershed land use activities, water quality, and salmonid population abundance. We believe that a fully developed Northwest salmonid will lead to better management of salmonid freshwater ecosystems and allow agencies to readily identify stocks and habitats of highest concern. Furthermore, it promises to provide valuable insights into the key freshwater problems affecting salmonid stocks and encourage innovative management options to restore these valuable salmonid stocks.

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