US Forest Service Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive (TES) Plant GIS Data, 2022

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US Forest Service - Region 4 Threatened, Endangered, Sensitive Plant (TESP) Survey data provided in GIS data export (TESP.gdb ArcGIS file geodatabase and metadata). Database contains points, polygons, and centroids for data between 1920-2022. Data provided 28 February 2022, by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Natural Resource Manager (NRM) corporate database system. <br>

Overview <br>

Provided data deliverables are developed as part of an agreement involving the exchange of information and products on the status and distribution of rare plants and animals between the Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming state natural heritage programs and the National Forests of the Intermountain Region (Region 4 or R4). Each year, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) provides the state natural heritage program data managers with new Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive (TES) plant and animal species observation data that have been added to the USFS Natural Resource Manager (NRM) corporate database system throughout the most recent fiscal year. USFS personnel are encouraged to provide information on common species to those state natural heritage programs that are tracking such information. Additional TES plant and animal species information, such as habitat boundaries, may be available upon request. <br>

Note that as of February 2022, the USFS is providing its first data deliverable to the state Natural Heritage programs as part of the agreement. This first data deliverable includes available TES and common plant and animal species observations stored within NRM for all years of data stored within the corporate systems. Data from previous fiscal years are included to provide state Natural Heritage programs a more complete set of information for the National Forests of the Intermountain Region. Future data deliverables will include only new data added to NRM throughout the most recent fiscal year. <br>

Data are spatially limited by state boundaries and the USFS Intermountain Region boundary. <br>

Data Distribution and Use Limitations <br>

The state natural heritage programs should not release any USFS heritage information to external sources except as required under state and Federal laws. Programs should direct external parties making requests for USFS rare plant and animal information that does not appear in a state natural heritage program report or document to the USFS. <br>

Limitations are inherent in USFS natural heritage data. The data are not better than the original sources from which they were derived. Comprehensive, site-specific field surveys have not been conducted in all National Forest System lands. While data must pass certain quality control criteria, the USFS is not routinely capable of detecting and correcting all errors made by the original collectors or examiners. USFS natural heritage data can seldom provide a definitive statement of presence, absence, or degree of health of TES plant and animal species in most locations. It is not typically possible to be certain that a rare plant or animal is absent from a location just because its presence is not shown in that location by the data. <br>

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Reference Code: N22USF01IDUS <br>

Full Citation: U. S. Forest Service. 2022. US Forest Service Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Plant (TESP) GIS Data. US Forest Service, Boise, Idaho. GIS Database <br>

Location: ELECTRONIC FILE - BOTANY: MULTIPLE SPECIES <br>

Keywords: TESP, TES, Plant, USFS, NRM, Intermountain Region, Region 4 <br>