Custom Data Request ID/Name: Earthjustice


Organization/Individual Requesting Data: 

Earthjustice is a California based nonprofit public interest environmental law organization. With over 200 full-time lawyers as well as research analysts, policy experts, scientists and more, Earthjustice utilizes the power of the law to preserve wildlife, combat climate change, advance clean energy, and protect people’s health.  


Quick Overview of Request

  • Conduct threats analysis across 16 different categories.
  • Summarize analysis in 49 and 343 square mile hexagon grids.
  • G1/T1-G2/T2 for all animals, except for hybrid, nonnative, and marine species.
  • Provide results to Earthjustice for use by Level 1 (employees, board members, and donors), Level 2 (clients and consultants to Earthjustice), and public data users.

Detailed Summary of Project

NatureServe will conduct a spatial analysis using element and element occurrence data to determine where imperiled animal species are affected by 16 different categorized threats. NatureServe will conduct the analysis of species threat and spatial data and summarize the results in a 49 and 343 square-mile hexagon grid (pending network program permissions) across the United States. The end product will be an ArcPro project with spatial layers corresponding to each threat that can be queried to identify the species that meet analysis conditions for each grid cell. The term of this License Agreement is 7 years from the date of delivery with a refresh after 3½ years. NatureServe allows longer license terms for data generalized at 49 and 343 square mile precisions since this level of data does not change as significantly over time.

 

Data Users  

Level 1 and Level 2 Data Users (defined below) will only utilize the Licensed Dataset (described above and provided to Earthjustice “Licensee” under a license agreement with NatureServe) to support wildlife conservation priorities as described below.  

  • “Level 1 Data Users” refers to Licensee’s employees, board members, and donors who will have access to the Licensed Dataset under the terms and conditions of the License Agreement between NatureServe and Licensee (summarized below).  

 

  • “Level 2 Data Users” refers to clients and consultants of Licensee who are external parties that are using the services of the Licensee to support wildlife conservation.  

Internal Use

Species location data provided under the Licensed Dataset within a 49 square mile hexagon grid can only be shared and utilized by Licensee employees, board members, and donors (Level 1 Data Users). Level 1 Data Users may develop and share products derived from the data within a 49 square mile hexagon grid such as maps, reports, analyses, and assessments, internally with other employees, board members and donors, provided all such data, documents, reports, maps or other products (in paper, hardcopy, electronic, or any formats) will be marked “Confidential and Proprietary -- For Internal Use Only” unless such products display or describe species at geographic scales expressly defined as allowable for external use below. The Licensee will work with NatureServe to develop general reporting templates for board members and donors before data is provided to these two categories of users.

 

External Uses

Licensee Client Use: The Licensee is permitted to provide maps and reports, but not spatial data layers, based on the Licensed Dataset with clients and consultants of the Licensee (Level 2 Data Users) as long as the location of species are displayed or reported within a 343 square mile grid. In addition, for the following states data may be reported to Level 2 Data Users within a 49 square mile area: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, KS, MI, NE, ND, OH, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, WY*. Depending on permissions, additional states data may also be reported at the 49 square mile grid level. The Licensee is responsible for ensuring that the maps and reports provided to Level 2 Data Users are marked as “Confidential and Propriety – For internal Use Only,” and that Level 2 Data Users are aware that the Licensed Dataset is sensitive and propriety and should not be shared with other external parties. NatureServe will provide the Licensee with an abbreviated terms of use summary that can be provided to Level 2 Data Users.

 

*Based on restrictions defined by Network Programs in the NatureServe Data Provider Portal. Data for these states will be flagged for permitted sharing with Level 2 Data Users within a 49 square mile area.  

 

Public Products: Species under the Licensed Dataset displayed or reported within a 343 square mile grid can be shared externally with the public in coordination with NatureServe. In the case where the Licensee develops products that are derived from the data displayed within a 343 square mile grid and are to be shared with the public, Licensee shall ensure that all such products shared in any form present the data in a way that will not compromise any imperiled species. If Licensee uses the data displayed within a 343-mile grid to create reports, publications, or other analytical outputs for public use, Licensee must notify NatureServe and, as mutually agreed upon, provide a copy of these final products.

Note: Please indicate in the survey your interest in viewing the draft public product before it is launched.  

 

Analysis Approach  

NatureServe will conduct an analysis that will link tabular data about conservation status and categorized threats with spatial data for animals in the United States to spatially identify concentrations of imperiled animals threatened by each of 16 threats listed below. The following data inputs and filters will apply:  

 

Taxonomy: All animals, regardless of taxonomic affiliation, at the       species, subspecies, and population segment levels. Hybrid, nonnative, and marine species will be excluded.  

 

Conservation Status: All taxa assigned statuses of G1 or T1 (critically imperiled), or G2 or T2 (imperiled).  

 

Geography: The project area will consist of the conterminous 48 states and the District of Columbia.  

 

Location data: Data input will be restricted using the following filters:  

•known to be extant at their last observation.

•last observed during the past 40 years.

•locational uncertainty less than 1 mile.

 

Spatial unit: 49 and 343 square mile hexagons, dependent on permissions from each state.

 

Threats: The following threat categories will be used:  

1.1 Housing & Urban Areas  

2.1 Annual & Perennial Non-Timber Crops  

3.1 Oil & Gas Drilling  

3.2 Mining & Quarrying  

3.3 Renewable Energy  

4.2 Utility & Service Lines  

5.1 Hunting & Collecting Terrestrial Animals  

5.3 Logging & Wood Harvesting  

5.4 Fishing & Harvesting Aquatic Resources  

6.1 Recreational Activities  

7.2 Dams & Water Management/Use  

9.1 Domestic & Urban Wastewater  

9.2 Industrial & Military Effluents  

9.3 Agricultural & Forestry Effluents  

9.5 Air-Borne Pollutants  

11.1 Habitat Shifting & Alteration  

 

The analysis output will consist of a database of the taxa that are affected by each threat in each hexagon unit across the United States.  

 

Deliverable  

NatureServe will deliver the results in an ArcPro project with layers corresponding to each of the categorized threats and with counts of imperiled animal taxa affected by the threat indicated. Querying a hexagon will reveal the names of the taxa documented to occur there. Further, the layers will be organized so that counts and queries can be conducted on all animals or limited to vertebrates or invertebrates.


The data was delivered in October