Expansion of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Owned, Managed, and Leased Properties (OMLP) Database, Final Performance Report 2011

The OMLP project was initiated in the fall of 2003 in response to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service audit findings. The first phase of the project was initiated under the State Wildlife Grant T-03-P-001 agreement and continued in the second and third phases under the State Wildlife Grant T-02-P-001 and T-17-P-001 agreements, respectively. In order to prevent a lapse in funding and to ensure no interruption of work, the project was then funded with state fundsunder T-17-P-002for one year.The main tasks for those phases were to establish procedures and standards for data capture and management into a GIS framework, and to create a geospatial database for IDNR properties acquired with federal and dedicated funds (e.g. Pitman-Robertson, Dingell-Johnson, Habitat, Pheasant, Migratory Waterfowl Stamp,Furbearer, and 100% Fish and Wildlife Eligiblefunds).This early focus was needed as no way existed that would guide the planning of conservation practices allowable on those properties. This fourthphase of the project has expandedon previous work by adding properties located within the 31 Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) as outlined in the State Wildlife Action Plan, and finally any remaining state funded sites until all IDNR sites wereincluded in the database.The StateWildlife Action Plan identifies 31 specific Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) as high priorities for protection and management. One objective of the State Wildlife Grant T-55-P-1 project is to assess the current status of the COA’s and provide coordination among conservation partners to facilitate progress in addressing local COA needs and their role in the State Wildlife Action Plan. Comprehensive, reliable, and accessible information regarding all land holdings by IDNR, not just those acquired with federal funds is essential to the implementation of coordination and planning at the local level in coordination with the T-55-P-1 project. Accurate and up to date parcel level property information is critical for COA planning efforts because knowing whether on the ground implementation is being done on public or private lands will direct the management responsibility, the funding, and the personnel allocations for each COA-based project.The geodatabase created for the OMLP project contains property boundaries at the parcel level and has been designed with the capability of mapping outer extent property boundaries, interior parcel lines, easement boundaries, lease boundaries, and land use information. A large portion of the mapping project has involved the thorough researching of existing paper and database records for each property. Extensive paper records have been collected over the years and each file hasto be reviewed for relevant and critical historical information concerning appropriate uses and limitations on conservation practices inherent in each property. Most properties consist of multiple parcels; some of the more complex properties have hundreds of parcels. Under this proposal, the GIS mapping of the IDNROMLP data will continue until all of theremaining properties are entered into the standardized and accurate geodatabase structure that was developed during the first two phasesof the mapping project and expanded upon in the third phase of the project. Properties that were prioritized lower in the immediate needs schedule were mapped during this fourth phaseof the project. As part of this project, a procedure manual outlining methodology and associated protocols using ESRI’s ArcGIS software has been updated to reflect all changes in data layers and attribute information, as well as version changes to the GIS software used to digitize the IDNR properties. This procedure manual will institutionalize the maintenance of the OMLP database and the inputting of new property acquisitions into the existing geodatabase. This will ensure that the OMLP information will be kept current and accurate, as existing IDNR staff will have their workloads adjusted to accommodate the OMLP database day-to-day housekeeping tasks. This institutionalization is critical to maintaining up-to-date property boundaries for the accurate tracking of conservation management practices on all IDNR owned and leased properties.The procedure manual continues to be updated as needed.To maximize its usefulness as information and planning tool, the OMLP database has been designed for integration with other agency databases. This will facilitate coordinated conservation management activity efforts within IDNR in support of the State Wildlife Action Plan.