Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Areas in Idaho and Montana

2015 data delineates five Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Areas for the Idaho and Southwestern Montana Environmental Impact Statement. The dataset, created by the Department of the Interior, provides a seamless geospatial layer covering the full EIS boundary. It integrates habitat management areas from various administrative plans and governor's conservation areas.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial extent and adjacency of the five Conservation Area polygons for regional planning.
• Summarize sage-grouse habitat coverage by overlaying Conservation Area boundaries with habitat management area layers.
• Evaluate disturbance density metrics within each Conservation Area polygon, such as Idaho Mountain Valleys or Southwestern Montana.
• Compare the boundaries of Governor's Conservation Areas with the expanded EIS boundary layers for policy assessment.
• Use the seamless layer as a geographic basis for modeling adaptive management strategies across Idaho and SW Montana.

Strengths

• Defines five distinct Conservation Area polygons for analysis.
• Seamless layer covering the full Idaho-SW Montana Greater Sage-Grouse EIS boundary.
• Integrates multiple administrative sources, including the Idaho Governor's Conservation Areas and Draft Proposed Plan.

Limitations

• Data is from 2015 and may not reflect current habitat or management boundaries.
• Specific row counts, feature counts, and spatial resolution are unknown.
• Includes non-habitat areas, which may require filtering for pure habitat analysis.

Provenance

Source

Department of the Interior.

Collection Method

Geospatial aggregation and expansion of administrative draft plan polygons and governor's conservation areas.

Time Range

2015.

Freshness

null

Geography

Idaho, southwestern Montana, and a portion of Utah managed by the Sawtooth National Forest.