DJ&A was selected to deliver an inventory of woody draws in order to provide the BLM with information needed to prioritize efforts for maintenance, restoration, and enhancement of woody draw health and structural diversity, in accordance with land management plans. Woody draws and ravines provide important habitat throughout north central Montana, but to date had not been inventoried throughout this district.

The inventory consisted of delineating existing woody draws using ArcGIS to digitize polygons containing information including polygon size, ecological classification, and vegetation category. Representative polygons were then selected for field verification, including on-the-ground identification of prominent species, species composition, and age-class distribution for vegetation including woody species and invasive species.

DJ&A also compiled a report for the BLM including a summary of the data collected, maps, photographs, raw data, and datasheets.

Key Services

  • Utilized ArcGIS to delineate woody draws and digitize polygons with associated information including species composition and age class distribution of both woody species and invasive species;
  • Provided quality assurance and quality control through field-verification of a representative subset of polygons;
  • Accurately identified a variety of woody and invasive species in order to characterize the composition of woody draw sites. Age class was also assessed for woody species; and
  • Compiled a detailed report summarizing the data collected through woody draw delineation and field verification of selected polygons.

Value Added

DJ&A’s experience and familiarity identifying plants throughout Montana provided an additional level of expertise to the project and increased the efficiency of data collection and field verification.