Providing the Air Force with Data on Species Sensitive to Noise from Low Flying Aircraft
Abstract
In order to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the ACC must evaluate its air operations for impacts to noise sensitive wildlife. The areas used for training flights change, the list of species believed sensitive to noise changes, the species and the species information are dynamic. Accordingly, in order to continuously evaluate impacts of training flights on Sensitive wildlife species and to comply with the ESA and NEPA, ACC has developed a Geographic Information System that is geographically complete and easy to update. The major objectives of this project were to provide the Air Force with access to a GIS-compatible data layer identifying the locations of noise sensitive species in Arizona, New Mexico and the tribal lands of the Navajo Nation in those two states while also building a portion of the Multi-Jurisdictional Dataset (MJD), an aggregation of data on the location and condition of species of conservation interest on a national scale. The objective of the MJD is to facilitate access to data and information products based on a national data set which is refreshed yearly. Through the MJD, ABI in conjunction with the Natural Heritage Programs can provide the Air Force with access to a GIS-compatible data layer identifying the locations of species at a national distribution. Natural Heritage Programs in Arizona, Navajo Nation and New Mexico improved the quality and completeness of locational data on animal species of conservation to meet the benchmark standards established by the ABI Data Standards Committee. The Nature Conservancy provided ACC with data and information on the status and exact locations of noise sensitive wildlife species (See Appendix 2A & 2B) in Arizona, New Mexico and the tribal lands of the Navajo Nation in those two states while adding this data to the broader effort to create the MJD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA377206
Entities
People
- Carrie Brugger
- Shara Howie