Welcome to Arizona’s Spatial Analysis Project

Summary Report for Arizona

 
 
November, 2006
 
 
This project and related publications made possible through a grant from the USDA Forest Service 
 
The Forest Stewardship Program (FSP) Spatial Analysis Project (SAP) was developed to evaluate the impact over the landscape that the FSP has had over the last decade and  identify areas of stewardship suitability to allow for strategic delivery of the FSP.  The SAP has two main components: an historic spatial database of stewardship plan tracts, and a layer-based suitability analysis.  Both components are used together in a GIS analysis to categorize areas within a state according to their stewardship potential, and evaluate how effectively the state has delivered the FSP in those priority areas.
 
The State Forestry Division completed the Spatial Analysis Project, in the fall of 2006. The majority of that time was committed to collecting data for the stewardship plan database.  All Forestry districts were visited, every stewardship plan evaluated, and plan authors were interviewed for details. The majority of the plans were digitized by hand into a geospatial database (ArcGIS Personal Geodatabase). We have digitized and mapped 200 stewardship plans with a few plans still being researched and collected.  In order for the Forest Stewardship Program to  have continued strategic delivery, the data layers must be regularly updated as better data becomes available and new Forest Stewardship Plans are completed or modified. The versatility of the model allows for modification over time as agency priorities and resources change.

Analysis Results

The Spatial Analysis Project is a statewide analysis and is not ideal for identifying stewardship potential on small individual parcels of land. This analysis is meaningful in steering efforts into regions of highest priority and can be used by our district offices to work with service foresters in directing limited resources. In practice, it will be necessary for individual foresters to determine eligibility and priorities on specific parcels of land. At a local scale there may be factors which necessitate or prohibit implementation of a specific stewardship plan or activity.
 
  • There are approximately 40.3 million acres of land in Arizona capable of being included in the Forest Stewardship Program
  • Of those 40.3 million acres, approximately 9.6 million are forested
  • Existing Stewardship plan acres total 172,865 – or 0.97% of the total forested stewardship capable lands in Arizona
  • Of the 40.3 million acres capable of stewardship, 15% are considered "high" stewardship potential (based on the layer suitability analysis)
  • 27% are considered "medium" potential
  • 58% are considered "low" potential

Stewardship potential is considered on all private, state trust, and tribal lands, both non-forested and forested. The vast majority of mapped stewardship plans are in high and medium potential areas, which indicates that he Forestry Division has effectively focused its efforts in high priority stewardship areas.

 
You may click here for a map showing Stewardship Potential & Existing Stewardship Plans[broken link, same URL as the map pic] 
Related Terms: 
Spatial Analysis