ECOLOGICAL MAPPING - ROLE OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS 
Henry M. Lachowski 
Paul Maus 
United States Department of Agriculture 
Forest Service 
2222, West 2300 South 
Salt Lake City, Utah 84119, USA 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 5 
ABSTRACT 
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service is managing their renewable 
resources under "ecological" management principles. We have developed a "National Hierarchical 
Fraework of Ecological Units", which provides for scientific basis of land management, and allows for 
consistency and information sharing at multiple geographic scales. Technologies such remote sensing and 
geographic information systems provide powerful tools for mapping various ecological units. We treat 
remote sensing data as an essential input to GIS databases. Remote sensing tools that we use include 
aerial photographs, satellite multispectral imagery, aerial videography, and other associated technologies 
such as positioning systems. This paper summarizes the Forest Service applications of remote sensing 
and GIS technologies to resource management problems. It describes applications in land management 
planning (change detection, etc), range allotment mapping, recreation management, and other resource 
issues in the context of ecological principles, at various geographic scales. 
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