RR 480 – Spatial analytical techniques for protected areas management and planning

Spring 2003

Updated 18 March 2003

Lecture: Tuesdays, 3:10-4:50, NR109;

Lab: Thursdays, 3:10-4:50, NR CLL

3 credit hours

Instructor: Dr. David M. Theobald, davet@nrel.colostate.edu, 970.491.5122

Office: Natural Resource Ecology Lab, NESB B248

Office Hours: Weds. 8:30-10 or by appointment

www.cnr.colostate.edu/class_info/rr480

Resources

Required text: Theobald, D. 2003. GIS Concepts and ArcGIS Methods. Available at the CSU bookstore.

Additional required readings will be available online, from the class homepage or on reserve in Morgan library.

Also, some other useful resources:

Bonham-Carter, G.F. 1996. Geographic Information Systems for Geoscientists: Modeling with GIS. Pergamon Press.

Longley, P.A., M.F. Goodchild, D.J. Maguire, and D.W. Rhind. 2001. Geographic Information Systems and Science. John Wiley & Sons.

O’Sullivan, D. and D.J. Unwin. 2002. Geographic Information Analysis. John Wiley & Sons.

Instructions for Lab Reports

Description

This course will introduce you to spatial analytical techniques used in planning and management of protected areas, ranging from national parks, forests, and wilderness areas to open space and privately-held preserves. We will examine parks and protected areas (PPAs) from three, nested perspectives. First, we will consider management and planning of the park and/or protected area by itself. This will allow us to concentrate on issues such as mapping infrastructure, designing trails, mapping zones used for resource protection and visitor management/experience, predicting resource use, impacts, and conflicts, etc. Second, we will incorporate the landscape context and threats that surround PPAs, to examine issues such as exotic species, adjacent land subdivision & development, and cross-management boundary analysis, etc. Third, we will examine methods to prioritize and assess PPA systems at broad regional and even national/international scales -- what areas are protected, what areas aren’t protected, and what areas should be protected?

The premise of this course (and arguably all courses at this college) is that better information—in this case derived from spatial analysis--will improve natural resource management, the quality of our life, and the sustainability of the planet. In explicit recognition of this, we will conduct spatial analyses that address contemporary, tangible, real-world problems that managers of parks and protected areas (PPA) face. We will wade into the richness, complexity, and messiness of real-world situations and consider both the spatial setting and the social/planning/policy context in which the PPA exists. And we will emphasize the presentation of spatial analyses and conveyance of information, including how to incorporate feedback from the planners/managers/decision makers to improve the analyses and information you produce.

Course Schedule

Week	Lecture	Lab Topic	*Readings (optional)**
1 Jan 20-24	Course overview; context of spatial analysis	Lab 1: Introduction to GIS Lab 1 Example report	Theobald 2003 (C 1- 6) NCGIA core curriculum Geographer’s craft
2 Jan 27 – 31	Basic types of spatial analyses of protected areas	Lab 2: Mapping Horsetooth Mountain park and surroundings	Theobald 2003 (C 6 - 9) *Fort Collins vicinity ownership
3 Feb 3 - 7	Management of protected areas: use, trails condition, infrastructure, resource condition	Lab 3: ELC mapping	Leung et al. 2002 *Wing and Shelby 1999
4 Feb 10 – 14	Visitor use mapping and analysis Guest lecture: Peter Newman		Newman et al. 2001 *Itami et al. 2000
5 Feb 17- 21	Resource Opportunity Spectrum	Lab 4: ROS in RMNP RMNP map	ROS Parks Canada ROS overview Dynamic ROS Cost distance modeling: Theobald 2003, pgs. 212-216. Berry 2001, February Berry 2001, April
6 Feb 24 - 28	ROS Continued
7 Mar 3 - 7	ROS Continued	Lab 5: ROS in RMNP II
Spring Break March 10-14
8 March 17-21	Site-level/clustering design and multi-criteria modeling	Lab 6: Cluster development	Whyte (1964) Arendt (1999) Larimer County Rural Land Use Center Arendt (1992) Cluster zoning Smart Growth Hall-of-Fame Illinois Cluster Pamphlet Will County design process Larimer cluster example
9 March 24-28	SNOWSTORM
10 March 31- Apr 4	Land use change models and build-out scenarios	No Lab	Steinitz et al. 1993 Theobald and Hobbs (2002) DRCOG Metro Vision 2020 Western Futures USGS LUHNA (ag and population growth) Seidl 2002 * Envision Utah Portland, Oregon GIS EPA: How to do a build-out analysis Massachussets: Build-out scoping
11 April 7-11	Accessibility/Wildness	Guest presentation (in NR109): Doug Ouren & Ray Watts, USGS (April 10^th)	Aplet et al. 2000 Fritz and Carver 2000
12 April 14-18	Assessment -- What are we protecting? How well are we doing? GAP biodiversity: protection status, mapping, etc. IUCN National System Planning for Protected Areas	Lab 7: GAP methods	Schrupp et al. 2001 Scott et al. 2001 Theobald in press Strittholt and Boerner 1995 USGS Gap Home page *Heinz Report on State of the Nation’s Ecosystems
13 April 21-25	Conservation plans – biodiversity networks, e.g., Wildlands Southern Rockies plan… Coarse/fine filter	Project	Noss and Harris 1986 Wildlands project, others
14 April 28-May 1	Reserve design, prioritization, and optimization- Where should we act?	Project	Schwartz 1999 Theobald et al. 2001 Margules and Pressey (2000) Possingham et al. 2000 *SITES model
15 May 5-May 9	Public participation	NR109: Project Presentations

Grading

Labs 60%

Project 30%

Class participation 10%

Labs and project assignments must be turned in promptly – you will be granted a one-time-only, 1-week extension (for labs only).

Policies

Students are expected to attend and participate in all lectures and labs – attendance will be recorded occasionally, and students with borderline grades who have consistently attended and participated will generally receive the higher grade.
I encourage students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury and attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, psychiatric disabilities, to discuss with me, during my office hours, appropriate accommodations. If this concerns you, please see me within the first two weeks of the course so that we may discuss these accommodations.
Academic dishonesty (i.e. cheating on tests, plagiarism, etc.) will not be tolerated (see pages 31-32 of university Catalog). Evidence of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of F for the course and will be reported to the Dean. Everyone participating in the course should be respectful of other students and the instructor in order to facilitate a civil learning environment. All persons participating in the course have a right to expect respectful treatment in the classroom.