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An Ecological Assessment of the Louisiana Tensas River Basin Chapter 1 
Purpose and Organization of this Atlas 
This atlas presents an environmental assessment of 
the Tensas River Basin of Louisiana (Figure 1.1). 
The assessment was conducted by using measure¬ 
ments derived from satellite imagery and spatial 
data bases and summarized by subwatersheds. 
The information presented in this atlas is intended to 
help visualize and understand the changing condi¬ 
tions across the watershed and how this pattern of 
conditions can be used as a context for understand¬ 
ing community-level situations within the region. 
The atlas is divided into five chapters with one appendix. 
This chapter introduces the reasons for doing a broad- 
scale regional analysis of environmental condition. 
Chapter 2 places the Tensas River Basin into the context 
of the lower 48 states. Chapter 3 presents an analysis of 
landscape conditions in the Tensas River Basin and 
briefly explains the landscape analysis methodology. 
Chapter 4 discusses water quality issues in the Tensas 
River Basin. Chapter 5 presents some recommendations 
for future efforts. The Appendix provides additional data 
that could not be included in Chapters 3 and 4. 
Tensas River Basin 
Providence 
Scale 1:1,000,000 
0 5 10 15 
20 Kilometers 
Figure 1.1 
