Description: Contains all potential forest blocks (PFB) regardless of amount of existing forest within Mississippi River Basin large river bottomlands. A potential forest block contains at least 100 acres of existing forest patches along with lands suitable for afforestation contiguous to these existing forest patches that, when combined, is at least 500 acres in size and contains at least 100 acres of interior area (at least 100 meters from forest edge).As initially identified, potential forest blocks can contain so little existing forest so as to render restoration infeasible or, so much existing forest so as to render restoration less necessary than other potential forest blocks where increasing the amount of forest would create greater ecological and environmental benefits. Thus, all of these potential forest blocks were classified according to restoration opportunity: Blocks considered most suitable for restoration (include at least 30% but no more than 85% of their total area as Existing Forest Patches (EFP) are identified as Type 1. PFB with less than 30% EFP are considered the least restorable because they would require substantial afforestation to reach full size, are identified as Type 2. Type 3 PFB already contain such a large EFP area (>85%) that additional restoration may not provide as much ecological or environmental benefit as would occur in Type 1 PFB. However, this depends on the context of the opportunities and in some instances restoration within Type 3PFB could provide significant benefit. Furthermore, as some of the Type 3 PFB can be quite large, there may still be substantial afforestation opportunities ranging from the hundreds to thousands of acres in these blocks, thus these Type 3 features should not be totally excluded from consideration as potential opportunities for restoration.
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Leveed areas within large bottomlands. Leveed areas are areas of a floodplain from which flood water is excluded by the levee system.Extracted from National Levee Database (Ver. April 2015).
Copyright Text: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2015
Name: Forest Block Expansion Opp. - Contig. to Forest Corridor
Display Field:
Type: Raster Layer
Geometry Type: null
Description: Afforestation opportunity (Cropland on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub land (1-ac min.)) within Mississippi River Basin large river bottomlands located within a forest block that would be 500 acres if all un-forested lands within it were afforested and is contiguous to a forest corridor (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013). Corridors generated by The Conservation Fund as part of the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and NiSource MSHCP processes.
Copyright Text: USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer, 2013
NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Afforestation opportunity (Cropland on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub land (1-ac min.)) within Mississippi River Basin large river bottomlands located within a forest block that would be 500 acres if all un-forested lands within it were afforested (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013).
Copyright Text: USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer, 2013
NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Forest corridors (within 100km of MRB mainstem bottomlands) generated by The Conservation Fund as part of the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and NiSource MSHCP processes.
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2015. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: MichaelSchwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Name: Potential Forest Block - Contig. to Forest Corridor
Display Field:
Type: Raster Layer
Geometry Type: null
Description: Potential forest block (contains at least 100 acres of existing forest patches along with lands suitable for afforestation contiguous to these existing forest patches that, when combined, is at least 500 acres in size and contains at least 100 acres of interior area (at least 100 meters from forest edge), within Mississippi River Basin large river bottomlands) adjacent to a forest corridor. An existing forest patch contains at least 10 acres of interior forest (at least 100 meters from forest edge) while lands suitable for afforestation are croplands on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub lands at least 1 acre in size (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013). Corridors generated by The Conservation Fund as part of the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and NiSource MSHCP processes.
Copyright Text: USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer, 2013
NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: A potential forest block contains at least 100 acres of existing forest patches along with lands suitable for afforestation contiguous to these existing forest patches that, when combined, is at least 500 acres in size and contains at least 100 acres of interior area (at least 100 meters from forest edge), within Mississippi River Basin large river bottomlands. An existing forest patch contains at least 10 acres of interior forest (at least 100 meters from forest edge) while lands suitable for afforestation are croplands on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub lands at least 1 acre in size (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013).As initially identified, potential forest blocks can contain so little existing forest so as to render restoration infeasible or, so much existing forest so as to render restoration less necessary than other potential forest blocks where increasing the amount of forest could create greater ecological and environmental benefits. This dataset is an excerpt of "Potential Bottomland Forest Blocks (All)" optimized for restoration potential, and contains only those Potential Forest Blocks containing between 30% - 85% of their total area as Existing Forest Patches.
Copyright Text: USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer, 2013
NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Name: Forest Patch Expansion Opp. - Contig. to Forest Corridor
Display Field:
Type: Raster Layer
Geometry Type: null
Description: Afforestation opportunity (Cropland on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub land (1-ac min.)) contiguous to an existing forest patch with at least 10 acres of interior forest (at least 100 meters from forest edge) and adjacent to a forest corridor (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013). Corridors generated by The Conservation Fund as part of the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and NiSource MSHCP processes.
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Afforestation opportunity (Cropland on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub land (1-ac min.)) within Miss. River Basin mainstem bottomlands contiguous to an existing forest patch with at least 10 acres of interior forest (at least 100 meters from forest edge) (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013).
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Existing forested area in Miss. River Basin mainstem bottomlands with at least 10 acres of interior forest (at least 100 meters from forest edge) (NLCD - 2011). Mainstem bottomlands derived by combining the Mississippi alluvial plain with natural floodplains created by the Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team for the Upper Mississippi. While the Mississippi alluvial plain is not entirely bottomland (e.g. Crowley's Ridge), excluding these non-bottomland areas from analysis would exclude opportunities to expand existing forest patches and enhance connectivity.
Copyright Text: NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Name: Afforestation Opportunity - Contig. to Forest Corridor
Display Field:
Type: Raster Layer
Geometry Type: null
Description: Cropland on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub land (1-ac minimum) (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013) located within Miss. River Basin mainstem bottomlands and contiguous to a forest corridor. Corridors generated by The Conservation Fund as part of the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and NiSource MSHCP processes.
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Cropland on marginal or wet soils, or herbaceous/scrub-shrub land (1-ac minimum) - (NLCD - 2011/Cropland Data Layer - 2013) located in Miss. River Basin mainstem bottomlands.
Copyright Text: USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer, 2013
NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Existing forested area in Miss. River Basin mainstem bottomlands (1-ac minimum) (NLCD - 2011). Mainstem bottomlands derived by combining the Mississippi alluvial plain with natural floodplains created by the Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team for the Upper Mississippi. While the Mississippi alluvial plain is not entirely bottomland (e.g. Crowley's Ridge), excluding these non-bottomland areas from analysis would exclude opportunities to expand existing forest patches and enhance connectivity.
Copyright Text: NLCD, 2011
The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Forest corridors (within 100km of MRB mainstem bottomlands) generated by The Conservation Fund as part of the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) and NiSource MSHCP processes.
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2015. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: MichaelSchwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815
Description: Bottomlands of large rivers within the Mississippi River Basin. Derived by combining the Mississippi alluvial plain with natural floodplains created by the Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team for the Upper Mississippi, and statewide floodplain coverages where available. While the Mississippi alluvial plain is not entirely bottomland (e.g. Crowley's Ridge), excluding these non-bottomland areas from analysis would exclude opportunities to expand existing forest patches and enhance connectivity. NOTE: Floodplain coverage in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri is incomplete due to incomplete data availability as of October 2016.
Copyright Text: The Conservation Fund, 2016. Point of Contact: Michael Schwartz | Email: mschwartz@conservationfund.org | Phone: 304-876-2815