Digital Coast

Issue

Local land trusts in Maine have often lacked the geospatial skills and technology required to effectively implement conservation strategies. The need for these geospatial resources is magnified as increasing environmental stressors in coastal areas make it difficult for individual organizations to reach their conservation goals.

Process

Recognizing the need to collaborate and build the technical capacity of coastal land trusts, the Maine Coast Protection Initiative (MCPI), a coalition of over 70 coastal organizations, banded together to increase the pace and quality of coastal land conservation. The group established three geographic information system (GIS) service centers in coastal Maine, and coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gulf of Maine Coastal Program, which also acts as a GIS service center for the area.

The GIS service centers received baseline data bundles for coastal Maine, including land cover and shoreline data. The service centers were also trained in conservation data documentation and GIS. Data produced by the State of Maine’s Beginning with Habitat program, which identifies ecologically important habitat, were added to the baseline data to create information maps that help guide local conservation efforts.

Impact

Mapping services, data, and training give coastal land trusts in Maine the information and geospatial skills they need to successfully conserve coastal resources. The four centers worked together to produce a database of conservation lands within each center’s area of interest, an initiative that has improved local and statewide communication among conservation-minded stakeholders. Equipping land trusts with GIS tools and training allows these organizations to better address coastal conservation challenges by supporting smarter, more effective decision-making in the coastal zone.

This map shows Maine’s four GIS service centers and areas, habitat focus areas of statewide ecological significance, and conservation lands in the coastal zone.

View PDF version of this map (Download Adobe Reader)