Vegetation - Garcia River Forest [ds722]

(AIS) was contracted by the Nature Conservancy to create a vegetation map covering approximately 23,800 acres (~37 square miles) of the Garcia River Watershed east of Point Arena in Mendocino County. The vegetation map adheres to the 2008 National Vegetation Classification Standard (NVCS) and the Manual of California Vegetation (MCV).

One-meter National Agricultural Inventory Program (NAIP) imagery flown in July of 2005 was used as a base for the delineated polygons and photo interpretation signature. Two trips were taken in July and August of 2007 for reconnaissance. The vegetation units were then interpreted across the entire study area using heads-up digitizing techniques through custom tools developed in the Arc GIS 9.2 Software that were enhanced by AIS.As a general rule, common and widespread vegetation units were delineated down to a minimum mapping unit (MMU) of approximately ½ hectare.