• TheWyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) recently revised its StateWildlifeActionPlan that provides a framework and information to assist in setting conservationpriorities for the state’swildlife andhabitats, includingboth terrestrial and aquatic.DatagatheredfortherevisedStateWildlifeActionPlanrepresentsmyriadsourcesandextensivepubliccomment.Recognizingthebenefitsofsharingthisinformation,theWGFDdevelopedaweb-baseddataviewer,theWyomingInteragencySpatialDatabaseOnlineManagementSystem,orWISDOM.WISDOMispartofawest-wideinitiativesupportedbytheWesternGovernors’Association.

• WISDOMisapartofamuchlargerwest-wideefforttodeveloparegional“CrucialHabitatAssessmentTool”(CHAT),aneffort thathasbeenendorsedby theWesternGovernors’Association. Each state is developing their version of a non-regulatory Crucial HabitatAssessmentTool.Totalcontrolofindividualstatedatasetswillbemaintainedbyeachstateandeach stateversionwill containcomponents thatwill allowcompilationof a regionalviewerofwildliferesourcesinthewesternUnitedStates.Ahandfulofstateshaverolledouttheirapplication,butmostarestill inthedevelopmentphase.Wyomingwillbepreparedto rollout itsversion insummerof2012,andall states shouldhaveapubliclyaccessibleapplicationby2013inadditiontothewest-widecompatibleregionalCHAT.

• TheWyomingGameandFishDepartmenthasastatutoryresponsibilitytoserveasstewardsofourstate’swildliferesourcesbymaintaininghealthywildlifepopulations.WISDOMwillimprovethedeliveryofthemostcurrentinformationaboutWyoming’swildlifeconservationpotential.

• WISDOMisauser-friendlytoolthatwillallowanyinterestedindividualtodiscover,consider,and assessWyoming’s wildlife resources.WISDOM has been developed in partnershipwith theWestern Governors’ Association,WY Geographic Information Science Center(WyGISC),WYNaturalDiversityDatabase,TheNatureConservancy,WYDepartmentof EnvironmentalQuality,WYOffice of State Lands and Investments,WYDepartmentofTransportation,USDANaturalResourcesConservationService, and theUSFishandWildlifeService.

• WISDOMisintendedtoprovideuseful,landscape-levelinformationduringtheearlystagesofprojectplanning.Itdoesnotreplaceorsupersedesitespecificanalysiswithappropriateagencies.WISDOMshouldbeusedinconcertwithallavailabledataandexpertisetoensureprojectplansaddresswildlifeandhabitatconservationatalllevels.

DRAFT

• WISDOMisaneasilyaccessibleweb-baseddeliverysystemforprovidingasetofnaturalresource data layers.This non-regulatory, landscape-level information allows a user tovisuallyexplorethedistributionofimportantWyomingwildlifehabitat,identifywildlifemigrationcorridors,identifypotentialstressorstowildlife,andotherrelevantdata.

• WISDOM preserves the confidentiality of sensitive data sets. No private landownerinformation, including ownership boundaries are identified within the application.Landownershipissimplyidentifiedasfederal,state,orprivate.Sensitivespeciesdataaregeneralized preventing a user from determining specific point locations. For example,pointlocationsarenotshownforsagegrouseleks,raptornests,orothersensitivespecies;insteadthatinformationisavailableas justpresenceorabsencewithinabufferdistancefromaprojectlocation(e.g.asagegrouselekiswithin4milesoftheprojectboundary),orinthecaseofWyomingNaturalDiversityDatabasedata,itisonlyrecognizedaspresentwithinagiventownship.Agenciesthathousetheactualdatawillcontinuetohaveaccesstositespecificinformation.

• WISDOMisdesignedtobeuser-friendlyandsimpletouse,soanyonecantakeadvantageofbest available information.Asnewor additional informationbecomes available, realtimeupdateswillbemadetokeepWISDOMcurrent.Modificationswillbemadeinthefutureifneeded,basedonuserinputtoensurethisgoalismet.FeedbackandquestionsarewelcomeandmaybesubmittedthroughWISDOMoremailedtowgfwisdomcomments@wyo.gov.

• Hands-ontrainingwillbeheldaroundthestate.Inaddition,theWISDOMwebsiteincludesaquickstarttutorial,self-pacedlearningmaterials,andvideotutorials.

April2012