LCA has worked with Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2000 to identify important contiguous habitat lands in the Lewis Creek watershed.  This project is cited in “Conserving Vermont’s Natural Heritage, A Guide to Community-based Planning for the Conservation of Vermont’s Fish, Wildlife, and Biological Diversity,” 2004.  Austin, John M., et. al. Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (FWD) and Agency of Natural Resources. Waterbury.  

The Department of Fish and Wildlife went on to partner with Agency of Transportation to provide a way for all Vermont communities to identify, map, prioritze and implement wildlife conservation planning strategies.  The Vermont Agency of Transportation and Department of Fish and Wildlife are pleased to share the newly completed GIS Wildlife Habitat Linkage Area Assessment.

As part of a collaborative effort to address wildlife and transportation issues, the Vermont Agency of Transportation and Department of Fish and Wildlife have developed a landscape-level identification tool for potentially significant wildlife habitat linkages. This analysis utilizes publicly available spatial data including land cover, housing density, and unfragmented habitat areas in correlation with the state highway system to produce a planning tool that describes wildlife movement corridors through the transportation system.

For more information contact Kevin Viani at 828-1278 or John Austin at 476-0179.