commands is utilized to store, retrieve, and display data from an ecological 

 characterization data base. Types of data bases developed from characterization 

 studies that utilize MANAGE include bibliographical materials, habitat data (area 

 measurements), species lists, water quality measurements, economic statistics, and 

 biological data on animals and wetland plants. 



The WAMS (Wetland Analytical Mapping System) software system produces 

 digital representation of spatial data in degrees of longitude and latitude. This 

 enables the user to concentrate a number of maps into a single geographic 

 information system. Large data bases can be created and maintained 

 with WAMS and a verification process insures spatial consistency in the data that 

 have been collected. Primary characterization products utilizing WAMS are habitat 

 maps (1:24,000) from the 1950s and 1970s, and biological resources, physical 

 features, and socioeconomic maps (1:100,000). 



The MOSS (Map Overlay Statistical System) software system interactively stores 

 digital map files, activates analysis and management procedures for those files, and 

 displays the results as finished products in a variety of formats. Alternative formats 

 display products as maps, map overlays, or tables. The data for MOSS are derived 

 not only from map products in ecological characterization studies but also from 

 statistical data that are in narrative reports and appendices. 



All of the above systems will be used to address natural resource planning 

 problems, energy and transportation developments, and impact analyses for coastal 

 ecosystems. 



APPLICATIONS 



Characterization studies are being used by federal, state, and local agencies, 

 private organizations, and individuals. The following examples illustrate the broad 

 range of applications: 



— as supporting documents in conducting lease sales of Outer Continental Shelf 

 (OCS) lands for oil and gas exploration and development in northern and 

 central California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida 



— for planning pipeline corridors from OCS areas to onshore facilities in 

 Louisiana and Texas 



— for evaluating environmental impacts from offshore mooring facilities and 

 deep water port developments in Oregon and Washington 



— in coastal zone management programs by state agencies, specifically Maine, 

 South Carolina, and Louisiana 



— to respond to EPA 208 requirements by county/ parish governments 



— as an information source in delineating areas for the Jean Lafitte National 

 Park in Louisiana 



— in design of environmental studies by federal and state agencies for California, 

 Maine, Texas, and Louisiana 



— for planning development projects by a Regional Planning Commission in 

 Maine 



— in assessing effects of federal projects such as the lower Winyah Bay terminal 

 and the Santee-Cooper Rediversion projects in South Carolina 



— as an information source for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Atlantic and 

 Pacific Coast Ecological Inventories 



— in preparing congressional testimony to support protection plans for offshore 

 barrier islands in Mississippi and Louisiana 



— in assessing effects of reduced freshwater inflows on estuaries in Louisiana 



— for designing a fish and wildlife management plan for the Columbia River 

 (Oregon and Washington) estuary 



— for use in university courses in ecology and in fisheries and wildlife 

 management 



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