Landscape Project Version 3.3 Released

May 9, 2017

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is announcing a new version of the Landscape Project maps that reflects habitat for endangered and nongame wildlife across the State.

The Landscape Project was designed as a tool for strategic wildlife habitat conservation. Through geographic information systems (GIS) technology, the Landscape Project uses documented species location data and land-use/land-cover as well as species life history information to depict habitat for endangered, threatened and special concern wildlife throughout the state.

Today, Version 3.3 of the Landscape Project maps replaced Version 3.1, released in 2012. The update to the Landscape Project maps incorporates the most recent land use/land cover data (LULC 2012) and new species occurrence data since the last release of the Landscape maps. In addition, the new version incorporates species not previously represented in the Landscape Project, including Atlantic sturgeon and northern long-eared bat (northern myotis).

The Landscape Project provides users with peer-reviewed, scientifically sound information that transparently documents threatened and endangered species habitat. Landscape Project data are easily accessible and can be integrated with the planning, protection and land management programs of non-government organizations and private landowners and at every level of government - federal, state, county and municipal.

Landscape maps and overlays provide a foundation for proactive land use planning, such as the development of local habitat protection ordinances, zoning to protect critical wildlife areas, management guidelines for imperiled species conservation on public and private lands, and land conservation preservation. The maps help increase predictability for local planners, environmental commissions, and developers, and help facilitate local land use decisions that appropriately site and balance development and habitat protection.

The Landscape Project maps allow users to anticipate potential environmental regulation in a specific geographic area and provide some level of assurance regarding areas where endangered, threatened or species of special concern are not likely to occur, affording predictability to the application and development process. Thus, Landscape Project maps can be used proactively by regulators, planners and the regulated public in order to minimize conflict and protect imperiled species. This minimizes time and money spent attempting to resolve after-the-fact endangered and threatened species conflicts.

A thorough description of the methodology used to create Version 3.3 of the Landscape maps can be found in New Jersey's Landscape Project Report, Version 3.3; available as a downloadable PDF file on the Division of Fish and Wildlife website:

www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/landscape/lp_report_3_3.pdf (pdf, 6.0mb)

To register for a Landscape Project Training and Information Webinar, please visit:
www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/landscape/landscape_train.htm

Landscape Project data and maps are available by the following methods:

GIS Data