Success Stories

Perhaps the most important measure of success is patron use of MSDI data. Below we cite specialized uses and additional successes in the form of stewardship activities, reports, and the like.

• The Montana Natural Heritage Program Wetland and Riparian Mapping Center won the 2015 Montana Wetland Council’s Wetland Stewardship Award, which was presented May 28, 2015 in a ceremony at the State Capitol.

• This dataset has a wide array of users, including federal, state, and local government agencies; conservation districts and watershed groups; hunters, birdwatchers, and anglers; consultants, planners, and stakeholders involved in land development; restoration and mitigation practitioners, including federal, tribal, state, local, and non-governmental organizations, and land trusts and other organizations.

• Before the creation of the Montana Natural Heritage Program Wetland and Riparian Mapping Center in 2007, less than 40% of Montana had digital wetland mapping. Since 2007, we have updated over 1/3 of these areas and created new mapping for an additional 60% of the state. Based on current funding, we will have created new digital wetland and riparian mapping from 2005 or later aerial imagery for over 80% of Montana.

• Mapping is used by project partners for a variety of purposes. The Wetlands Framework is used to apply protective land-use stipulations during energy development, to avoid or minimize impacts to aquatic resources, to identify suitable restoration sites, to identify suitable wildlife habitat, and to support conservation funding proposals.