Organization of Fish and Wildlife Information Managers (OFWIM)-1999 Meeting Presentations

Organization of Fish and Wildlife Managers

OFWIM > Publications > 1999 Conference Presentations

Welcome to OFWIM's Presentation of a
Collection of Computerized Cue Cards from the
4th Microcomputer Applications in
Fish and Wildlife Conference
Stateline, Nevada
October 24th-28th, 1999

A number of presentations at the OFWIM - 1999 Conference were presented in Power Point (Microsoft) or Presentation (Corel) formats. We've asked participants at the Conference for permission to post their presentation at the OFWIM Web Site. The team at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries have been the first to provide their presentations for posting. Their presentations included:

Use of the Internet to Engage Your Constituents! (Becky Wajda)

Virginia's Wildlife Information Online (Kathy Quindlen)

Wildlife Mapping: Who Is Participating and How Is Their Data Filling in the Gaps (Jeffrey B. Trollinger and Karen K. Reay)

Distributing Information on Herpetofauna and WildlifeMapping Project: Making the Connection (Karen K. Reay and Jeffrey B. Trollinger)

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Use of the Internet to Engage Our Constituents! (Becky Wajda)

Historically, state fish and wildlife agencies have used public meetings and individual solicitations to involve their constituencies in regulatory processes and program activities. These procedure, while often effective in motivating selected publics, do not take advantage of new technologies and can exclude impacted constituencies that don not routinely interact with the agency. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has begun to use the Internet as a means for actively engaging a wider range of groups in the affairs of the agency. During a recent regulatory process involving the setting of hunting and trapping seasons, the Department implemented an online opinion survey from that sought feedback on the proposals and a related subject. The agency received more than 900 responses using this survey instrument. The Department is also using the web site to provide an electronic bulletin board where the angling communities can post and share fishing experiences across the state. This tool is quite popular and effective in supplementing the agency's weekly Fishing Report, providing more timely details about specific fishing "hot spots". Another very effective use of the web site is the electronic submission of data for the Department's WildlifeMapping program. Initially, Wildlife Mappers submitted data via paper form or export file generated from an Access database application. The web-based process facilitates data entry directly into the primary application, reducing staff effort and minimizing data transfer errors. In all three cases, the Department has used the Internet to engage constituents in activities and interactions outside of those they are required to (e.g., purchasing a license, registering a boat) and provide further opportunities for interaction with the agency. The web site can be viewed at http://www.dgif.state.va.us.

This presentation available as:
PowerPoint presentation: (BWSlides.ppt):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/ppt/BWSlides.ppt
Adobe Acrobat Reader file: (BWSlides.pdf):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/pdf/BWSlides.pdf

Virginia's Wildlife Information On-line (Kathy Quindlen)

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has recently completed the migration of its system of wildlife databases to a World Wide Web ("web") application. From 1994 until late 1998, the Wildlife Information Online Service ("Service") was accessible through modem dial-in to the Agency's computers. Now that the Service is available through the web, it is more widely accessible to Agency staff, other government agency users, consultants, private industry, and the general public, resulting in an increase in Service use. Each category of user has its own access privileges, so that sensitive data are protected. The Service is also easier to use and requires less training due to the mouse-drive interface. New mapping capabilities, including point-and-click location selection and zooming in or out, makes the Service more functional and versatile. The mapping functions allow the user to select any geographic point within Virginia and conduct a search for known or likely wildlife resources around that point, or up- or down-stream along a warm water stream. Information compiled for a site includes occurrences of threatened and endangered species, all wildlife species, cold water streams (including trout streams), anadromous fish, and state-owned lands. Reports may be customized to suit the user's needs. Maps of species occurrences may also be viewed and printed. In addition to the geographic searching features, the Service provides complete species information on over 2,000 species found in the Commonwealth. the Service is accessed from the Agency's main web page at www.dgif.state.va.us through the hyperlink Wildlife Information Online.

This presentation available as:
PowerPoint presentation: (KQSlides.ppt):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/ppt/KQSlides.ppt
Adobe Acrobat Reader file: (KQSlides.pdf):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/pdf/KQSlides.pdf

Wildlife Mapping: Who Is Participating and How Is Their Data Filling the 'Gaps' (Jeffrey B. Trollinger and Karen K. Reay)

The lack of complete and ongoing inventory of Virginia's wildlife resources demands creative solutions. WildifeMapping, a two-year-old citizen outreach and education program, helps fill in the 'gaps' by providing an opportunity for citizens, community groups and schools to contribute their wildlife observations to Virginia's biological databases. By providing individuals with rudimentary training in species identification and field guide use, habitat identification, map reading and data reporting, the Wildlife Mapping program opens a dialogue between the Department and the public. Virginia's WildlifeMapping program, sponsored by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), is modeled after NatureMapping, a national outreach project developed by the University of Washington Gap Analysis Project and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. To date, VDGIF personnel and 68 volunteer facilitators have trained approximately 400 WildlifeMappers across Virginia with over 3,500 observations reported to the Agency. These observations are maintained as a public data layer and used to assess wildlife distributions by filling in the 'gaps' where little data collection has taken place. A demographic sketch of WildlifeMappers and facilitators will be described along with an outline of data received back. A description of where data reporting sites are across the Commonwealth will be mapped. A comparison of species observation maps before and after incorporating WildlifeMapping data will demonstrate how important these data are in providing a more comprehensive view of wildlife distributions across Virginia.

This presentation available as:
PowerPoint presentation: (JTSlides.ppt):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/ppt/JTSlides.ppt
Adobe Acrobat Reader file: (JTSlides.pdf):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/pdf/JTSlides.pdf

Distributional Information on Herpetofauna and the WildlifeMapping Project: Making the Connection (Karen K. Reay and Jeffrey B. Trollinger)

Amphibians and reptiles have traditionally been two groups of species that have limited distributional information. Their secretive habits combined with a lack in popular observation clubs, such as birding groups, make it difficult to collect information on wide-spread distribution patterns. Range and distribution patterns for some species are almost complete, whereas others are very incomplete. Maps of the Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Virginia illustrate where people, mainly scientists, have documented species' occurrence with an accepted museum specimen or scientific collection record. These maps show that a particular species may have a broad ecological tolerance limit and thus a wide distribution, or relatively narrow tolerance limits and a geographically limited distribution. The Atlas also indicates where habitat favorable to reptiles and amphibians may be lost due to rapid expansion of urban centers. However, it mostly illustrates where there are gaps in collection of data due to lack of surveying effort such as the Piedmont region of the state. It is the hope of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries that the WildlifeMapping Project can assist in this effort by providing data from areas not frequently surveyed. this public surveying effort may be done through consistent weekly monitoring or records of notable sightings. With time, the volume of data generated from this volunteer effort will provide valuable insight into the distribution patterns of an elusive, but important, group of animals within Virginia.

This presentation available as:
PowerPoint presentation: (KRSlides.ppt):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/ppt/KRSlides.ppt
Adobe Acrobat Reader file: (KRSlides.pdf):
http://www.ofwim.org/docs/1999/pdf/KRSlides.pdf

Other presenters at the OFWIM - 1999 Conference are being contacted regarding the availability of their presentations for posting. Visit this page on occasion to see our progress in obtaining additional materials.

MORE of OFWIM's Collection of Computerized Cue Cards from the 4th Microcomputer Applications in Fish and Wildlife Conference

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