Decision Support for Managers

Decision makers have more information coming at them than ever before, which can make it overwhelming and difficult to assess the right information.  Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) allows people to take any kind of information – and display that information on a map, with the data in the correct geographic location.  Information and multiple databases will no longer be a dry list of statistics, but can be “viewed” in the context of geography.  In this way, BLM managers can make better informed decisions about the land they manage.  They can see potential results of treatments, current water quality on a river tied to OHV use, as well as demographic information displayed geographically to make decisions.  Within the not-to-distant future, holding integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) chips in computers, PDAs and cellphones, decision makers and scientists will have electronic maps in the palm of their hands, creating new maps on-the-fly, downloading data from the internet, allowing one to bring together disparate kinds of a data to visually reveal new understandings about how humans, wildlife, commercial actions, etc. affect the BLM lands.  Here at NSTC, we strive to make geospatial technologies and their application a reality for our decisions makers.  Just as managers are fiscally responsible, use of GIS and related systems will help BLM accountability for actions on the lands, and subsequently document these actions for future use.

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