Georgia Gap

1. To map actual land cover and vegetation
2. To map the predicted distribution of those terrestrial vertebrates that spend any important part of their life history in the State of Georgia.
3. To document the representation of natural land cover types and animal species in areas managed for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity.

• The extinction crisis is real and it is here. Waiting until species are endangered to protect them will perpetuate this crisis.
• Because lack of information leads to poor land use and management decisions despite the best intentions.
• Range-wide information on elements is required for proper decision-making.
• To provide land stewards with the information to be the best stewards of biodiversity that they want to be.

• The best time to save species is while they are still common
• It is less costly to maintain natural populations rather than intensely managing endangered populations
• Terrestrial elements are necessary, though imperfect surrogates for biodiversity until other taxa are mapped
• Gap provides a useful spatial framework to nest data at a variety of scales
• It is not a substitute for the Endangered Species Act or Natural Heritage Programs
• It is not a complete national biological inventory

• Maps are a display of a database
• Provides contextual information versus site content
• Regardless of minimum mapping unit, all features are either mapped or included of attributes of larger landscape units
• Mapped boundaries between land cover types are approximations
• Species distribution maps are testable predictions
• Predicted presence/absence does not imply habitat quality
  

Organizational:

• Business model: state-based organization and reporting transitioning to regional execution
• The process catalyzes partnerships among state, federal, institutional, and non-governmental organizations
• Consistent standards are instituted nationwide, but flexible methods are allowed among projects