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Color: [78, 78, 78, 255] Background Color: N/A Outline Color: N/A Vertical Alignment: bottom Horizontal Alignment: center Right to Left: false Angle: 0 XOffset: 0 YOffset: 0 Size: 10 Font Family: Arial Font Style: normal Font Weight: normal Font Decoration: none
Color: [225, 225, 225, 255] Background Color: N/A Outline Color: N/A Vertical Alignment: bottom Horizontal Alignment: center Right to Left: false Angle: 0 XOffset: 0 YOffset: 0 Size: 12 Font Family: Trebuchet MS Font Style: normal Font Weight: normal Font Decoration: none
Description: Deer winter habitat is critical to the long term survival of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Vermont. Being near the northern extreme of the white-tailed deer's range, functional winter habitats are essential to maintain stable populations of deer in many years when and where yarding conditions occur. Consequently, deer wintering areas are considered under Act 250 and other local, state, and federal regulations that require the protection of important wildlife habitats. DWAs are generally characterized by rather dense softwood (conifer) cover, such as hemlock, balsam fir, red spruce, or white pine. Occasionally DWAs are found in mixed forest with a strong softwood component or even on found west facing hardwood slopes in conjunction with softwood cover. In this mapping exercise no minimum area is defined, however, most areas less than 20 acres were not delineated, nor were areas above 2,000 feet elevation (approximate). In 2008, the boundaries of deer winter areas where refined using black and white leaf-off 1:5,000 scale orthophotography (1990-1999) and was cross referenced with 1:24,000 scale 2003 NAIP (color, leaf-on) imagery to better delineate fields and open wetlands. Some of the areas were also marked as 'not likely wintering area' based on not having softwood characteristic. The areas were reviewed by VFWD District Biologists in 2009 to 2010 for their concurrence from their knowledge of the site. The 2008 mapping project did not involve any field work, but was based on aerial photography. Potential areas were identified, but they have not been included in this map layer because they have not been field verified. The original DWA mapping was done in the 1970s and early 1980s and was based on field visits and interviews with wildlife biologists and game wardens. The DWA were mapped on mylar overlays on topographic maps and based on small scale aerial photos.
Description: Habitat blocks are areas of contiguous forest and other natural habitats that are unfragmented by roads, development, or agriculture. Vermonts habitat blocks are primarily forests, but also include wetlands, rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, cliffs, and rock outcrops. Forests included in habitat blocks may be young, early-successional stands, actively managed forests, or mature forests with little or no recent logging activity. The defining factor is that there is little or no permanent habitat fragmentation from roads and other forms of development within a habitat block. This layer is a statewide representation of all habitat blocks larger than 20 acres, as derived from NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program (CCAP) 2006 Era Land Cover Data and ancillary data (Vermont roads and E911, etc.). Each block has been ranked for its biological and conservation values and for the potential threat from fragmentation. Purpose: 1) Identify habitat blocks using best-available GIS data. 2) Rank the habitat blocks for their biological and conservation value and for the potential threat to them from fragmentation. The habitat block attribute table includes information on the 11 biological and physical diversity factors used to rank the 4,055 blocks. A brief description of these 11 factors is provided in the polygon attributes metadata under F1raw-F11raw. The F1raw-F11raw fields provide the raw ranking scores for the habitat blocks; the F1rcl-F11rcl fields provide the ranking scores for the blocks separated into 10 classes, using the classification method specified for each factor. Similarly, the Fwght field provides the final weighted score for each habitat block, incorporating the ranks from each of the 11 biological and physical diversity factors and the weighting assigned to each; the Fwghtrcl field provides the final weighted score for each habitat block separated into 10 equal interval classes.
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Description: Natural community mapping completed on lands owned by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
NaturalCom
(
type: esriFieldTypeInteger, alias: Natural Community Code
)
S_Rank
(
type: esriFieldTypeString, alias: S-Rank, length: 2
, Coded Values:
[S1: S1: very rare in Vermont]
, [S2: S2: rare in Vermont]
, [S3: S3: high quality examples are uncommon in Vermont]
, ...2 more...
)
ANRUnit
(
type: esriFieldTypeDouble, alias: ANR Unit
, Coded Values:
[0: State Tree Nursery]
, [1: L.R. Jones State Forest]
, [2: Downer State Forest]
, ...478 more...
)
LastVisit
(
type: esriFieldTypeDate, alias: Last Visit, length: 8
)
FieldVerify
(
type: esriFieldTypeString, alias: Field Verify, length: 1
)
ID: 49
Name: Red Maple-Black Ash Seepage Swamp
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 52
Name: Calcareous Red Maple-Tamarack Swamp
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 54
Name: Red Maple-Northern White Cedar Swamp
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 55
Name: Wet Clayplain Forest
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 56
Name: Wet Sand-Over-Clay Forest
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 57
Name: Red Maple-White Pine-Huckleberry Swamp
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 58
Name: Northern White Cedar Swamp
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Variant: Coded Values:
[Northern White Cedar Sloping Seepage Forest: Northern White Cedar Sloping Seepage Forest]
, [Boreal Acidic Northern White Cedar Swamp: Boreal Acidic Northern White Cedar Swamp]
, [Hemlock-Northern White Cedar Swamp: Hemlock-Northern White Cedar Swamp]
, ...1 more...
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 59
Name: Spruce-Fir-Tamarack Swamp
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 60
Name: Red Spruce-Cinnamon Fern Swamp
Domains:
ID: 999
Name: Provisional Natural Community (Non-NC)
Domains:
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 996
Name: Other
Domains:
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 92
Name: Dry Red Oak-White Pine Forest
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Variant: Coded Values:
[Dry Red Oak-White Pine Forest: Dry Red Oak-White Pine Forest]
, [Dry Red Oak-White Pine Woodland: Dry Red Oak-White Pine Woodland]
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 6
Name: Red Spruce-Heath Rocky Ridge
Domains:
NatComTxt: Inherited
Formation: Inherited
MinorCat: Inherited
MajorCat: Inherited
S_Rank: Inherited
ANRUnit: Inherited
StateSig: Inherited
Audience: Inherited
ID: 11
Name: Red Oak-Northern Hardwood Forest
Domains:
Description: Under Natural Areas Law (10 Vermont Statutes Annotated, Chapter 83 § 2607) the FPR commissioner, with the approval of the governor, may designate and set aside areas in the state forests and state parks as natural areas. There are 33 designated natural areas in Vermont. In many cases, these are sites which have retained some "wilderness character," though the law is quick to explain that this doesn't mean it has to be completely natural and undisturbed by humans. Sites which support rare or vanishing species of plants and animals or areas of unique ecological, geological, scenic or contemplative recreational value are also candidates for designation. The purpose of a state natural area is ostensibly "for the use of present and future residents of the State." This has meant in practice that most natural areas are managed to perpetuate the characteristics that led to their recognition as outstanding natural sites. In the case of some natural areas, this has meant minimal public information is developed, to discourage visitation that could result in resource damage. Other natural areas are located in popular recreation sites and host thousands of visitors every year. While natural areas are protected, they are open to compatible uses, including research, hiking and nature study; because natural areas are undeveloped, there are few devices to safeguard or protect visitors from falling or slippery rocks and other hazards.
Copyright Text: Ginger Anderson (abstract), Ryan Knox (compilation and development of natural areas layer)