CHAT web application development and capabilities

Launched in December, 2013, the Western Governors’ Association’s Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (WGA CHAT) is now publically available online at www.westgovchat.org.  An easy to use online system of maps and information, CHAT highlights areas containing high priority natural resources for fish and wildlife species across the Western United States, providing a unique tool for assessing large-scale, landscape level land use projects across state boundaries.  This presentation willprovide an overview of the data, tools, and applications provided within the CHAT website; highlighting the various ways to access and use the CHAT data.  For example, the mapping application within CHAT provides the ability to quickly map and display important species and habitat information within a web browser, crossing state boundaries and without the need for additional GIS software.  Created maps can then easily be distributed to colleagues.   Additional resources within the CHAT website include navigating through the specific definitions of the crucial habitat results provided by 16 different states; guiding users to state-specific CHAT sites and more detailed datasets; providing access to resources created during the crucial habitat development process, such as maps depicting large contiguous blocks of habitat and wildlife corridors across the Western United States; and incorporating the west-wide crucial habitat data into offline mapping systems.  Once incorporated into one's own system, the crucial habitat data can then be overlaid with project specific information, and used to quickly analyze crucial habitat information at a landscape level scale.