Name: Lesser Prairie-chicken Focal Area and Connectivity Zones
Display Field: FACZ_ID
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P STYLE="margin:0 0 0 0;"><SPAN>The latest version of the focal areas and connectivity zones/expansion areas as delineated by each state. The regions are delineated using the rangewide hexagon layer dissolved on the LEPC_cons attribute. The large Focal Areas were sub-divided into smaller units of approximately 100,000 acres for more locally relevant reporting and assessment. Each FA/CZ unit is numbered. Focal areas that were split, share a common number but are given unique letters (1A, 1B…). Focal Areas are numbered 1-44, Connection Zones are 100-145, and Expansion zones are numbered 200 – 218.</SPAN></P><P><SPAN /></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Copyright Text: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, New Mexico Game and Fish, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, United States Geological Surveys, Fort Collins Science Center, Western Governors Association Council.
Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN><SPAN>This area represents in the general habitat regions used within the Lesser prairie chicken Range Wide Plan. The habitat regions are used for characterizing the general habitat type within the LPC Estimated Occupied Range + 10 mile buffer (EOR10). This area was delineated by the LPC interstate working group in 2013 to represent the general occupied habitat range of all known LPC at that time. To account for some unknown birds near the range edge and the possibility of slight changes in the range, the EOR was buffered by 10 miles to create the EOR10 that is the focus of the RWP. The habitat regions within the EOR10 were delineated as a way to divide the overall range into sub regions. Within the Plan, each region has its own population goals, and average cost for managing habitat (that is used in calculating Industry mitigation fees and payments to participating conservation landowners). </SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Copyright Text: Western Association of Wildlife and Fish Agencies
Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>The Cooperative Whooping Crane Tracking Project (CWCTP) was initiated in 1975 to collect a variety of information on whooping crane migration through the U.S. portion of the Central Flyway. Since its inception in 1975, a network of Federal and State cooperating agencies has collected and submitted information on whooping crane stopovers to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Nebraska Field Office where a database of sighting information is maintained. The WCTP database includes a hardcopy file of whooping crane sighting reports and a digital database in various formats based on those sighting reports. A subset of the database along with sight evaluation (habitat) information collected between 1975 and 1999 was summarized by Austin and Richert (2001). In the Fall of 2007, the CWCTP database was converted to a GIS format (ArcGIS 9.2) to facilitate input, updates, and provide output options in a spatial context. One product derived from these observations (502 points as of 2009), was the creation of a probability corridor that identified the probability of a sighting occurring within that area. Corridors were calculated to show corridors that contained 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, and 95% of the observations. Since these corridors are generated from the individual sightings, it is important to understand some of the limitations and assumptions of the data. First and foremost, the database is comprised of incidental sightings of whooping cranes during migration. Whooping cranes are largely opportunistic in their use of stopover sites along the Central Flyway, and will use sites with available habitat when weather or diurnal conditions require a break in migration. Because much of the Central Flyway is sparsely populated, only a small percent of stopovers are observed, those observed may not be identified, those identified may not be reported, and those reported may not be confirmed (only confirmed sightings are included in the database). Based on the crane population and average flight distances, as little as 4 percent of crane stopovers are reported. Therefore, absence of documented whooping crane use of a given area in the Central Flyway does NOT mean that whooping cranes do not use that area or that various projects in the vicinity will not potentially adversely affect the species. Additional information can be obtained at: </SPAN></P><P><SPAN>https://documents.ku.edu/Kansas%20Biological%20Survey/outgoing/windresource/Whooping_Crane_and_Wind_Development_FWS_%20April%202009.pdf" </SPAN></P><P><SPAN>and</SPAN></P><P><SPAN>https://documents.ku.edu/Kansas%20Biological%20Survey/outgoing/windresource/Required%20Whooping%20Crane%20reading.pdf</SPAN></P><P><SPAN /></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Copyright Text: Data set created by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service