Upon request, data providers may have an opportunity to review their data prior to release on the Conservation Almanac website. In addition, individuals, agencies and organizations may comment and/or question data by e-mailing Conservation.Almanac@tpl.org. The comment and/or question will be submitted to a project partner to address and/or resolve.
The Trust for Public Land will actively collect data from public agencies and programs and private conservation organizations. Data on dollars spent and acres acquired will be gathered for Federal, State and local programs. Only information on acreage will be collected at the private level. Initially, only data that is digitally mapped will be collected for the map viewer. We will keep track of paper maps and non-mapped computer files for later efforts. TPL will be coordinating with the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED) project partners to gather much of the easement information. In addition, the National Conservation Easement Portal housed on the Conservation Registry will offer organizations and agencies a customized mapping tool that will allow them to draw their easement on a map (or upload a shape) and data entry fields to add accompanying information.
Although the NCED is focusing on collecting easement data, project partners are also integrating the data with other tools and efforts that are trying to develop a more complete conservation picture. The Conservation Almanac is one such effort.
The Trust for Public Land will remain in touch with the conservation community in each state in order to provide new and updated data over time. As data is updated and validated, it will be published on the Conservation Almanac website. Between 2010 and 2012 TPL will be releasing new state data every three to four months.
If an organization or agency's data is not currently digitized, it will be noted and TPL will follow-up with the agency or organization after the initial round of data is collected.
For conservation easements, the National Conservation Easement Database project (of which TPL is a partner) offers organizations and agencies the ability to digitize or map their easement information through the National Conservation Easement Portal on the Conservation Registry. Organizations and agencies can manually draw their easement on a map (or upload a shape) using a Google Map and a customized polygon drawing tool. Once information is collected via the portal, it will be sent to the easement database for geometry validation and non-sensitive information will be shared with the portal and other public web sites that will be publishing the easement map.
Depending on available funds for each state in the future, we may be able to support efforts to computerize existing paper and other records.
The Conservation Almanac parallels the work of the public-private partnerships that are building the Protected Areas Database of the U.S. (PAD-US) and the National Conservation Easement Database (NCED). PAD-US is an inventory of public and non-profit fee-owned lands that are dedicated to open space uses. The NCED is an inventory of conservation easements dedicated to open space uses. The Conservation Almanac is using compatible technology and coordinating with PAD-US and NCED, to ensure that both data sets can be used in creating a complete GIS-based overview of protected areas.
Since the projects are related and include some of the same players, if an agency or organization would like to share fee or easement data collected as a part of the Conservation Almanac, TPL can pass it on to the appropriate partner for either PAD-US or NCED.
In compiling data, a conscientious effort was made to include only lands that could be categorized as permanently conserved. Lands acquired and conserved in the context of the Conservation Almanac encompass lands held in fee title for conservation purposes and lands over which conservation easements have been placed, but does not include leased lands nor lands managed pursuant to contracts. Data has been collected on a yearly basis for the 1998 through 2005-time period, however some states have been updated with information through 2008. By 2012 all states will have data through 2008.
A baseline figure represents an aggregate figure of acres acquired at present. We have captured local conservation land and private conservation land (e.g., those held by land trusts), from the most active counties and land trusts within a state. While this does not capture all conserved acres through these sources we feel the great majority of these acres are counted. Some portions of state forests are not included because it was not possible to adequately delineate what was permanently conserved.
The Total Acres Conserved figures consist of the total baseline number of acres owned in fee or held with conservation easements by private organizations and local, state and federal agencies.
In contrast, the charts entitled Acres Conserved 1998-2005 (or 2008) and Public Dollars Spent on Land Conservation provide a snapshot of land conservation acquisitions, both fee and conservation easements, and acquisition expenditures for 1998 through 2005 (or 2008).
It should be stated clearly:
In some instances state agencies or programs were not able to provide data on a yearly basis, but rather as an aggregate figure. In this case we have distributed total acres acquired and dollars spent evenly by year.
The Acres Developed for 1998 to 2008 is based upon a regression analysis of 2003 data from the National Resources Inventory by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United State Department of Agriculture. Using the available historical data, the annual rate of growth in acres developed was regressed on the annual rates of growth in population, housing units and employment (from Census Bureau) for 1998 through 2005. The results of this regression were used to project the annual rate of growth in acres developed for each year from 1998 to 2008. The estimates of Acres Developed for each year from 1998 to 2008 are based on these projected rates of growth in acres developed. It should be noted that there is some statistical uncertainty in the projections from 1998 to 2005, but we believe these to be the best possible estimates.
In contrast, the charts entitled Acres Conserved 1998-2005 (or 2008) and Public Dollars Spent on Land Conservation provide a snapshot of land conservation acquisitions, both fee and conservation easements, and acquisition expenditures for 1998 through 2005 (or 2008).
It should be stated clearly:
At the time of publication some Federal programs or agencies were not able to provide all data requested. In these instances data is provided in the best available format. Attempts to gather this information will be made in subsequent updates to the Conservation Almanac. It is important to note the following for Federal data in the Conservation Almanac:
It is important to note the following:
The Trust for Public Land thanks all state and federal agencies for making the Conservation Almanac possible with their provision of acreage data, historical acquisition and expense data (1998 to 2005), and other pertinent information. TPL would also like to acknowledge the following resources that provided vital information regarding the content of the Conservation Almanac: