527 
Dean P. Angelides 
VESTRA Resources, Inc. 
962 Maraglia Street 
Redding, CA 96002 
Edward C. Murphy 
Sierra Pacific Industries 
Old Highway 99 
Anderson, CA 96007 
Steven Self 
Timber Association of California 
1311 I Street 
Sacramento, CA 95814 
Creating and Managing a State-wide GIS Data Base 
for Evaluating Wildlife Habitats 
ABSTRACT 
VESTRA Resources was retained by the Timber Association of California to 
design, construct, and maintain a GIS data base aimed at examining the 
expected distribution and quantity of various types of wildlife habitats resulting 
from current or proposed land management direction on California’s public 
and private forested lands. Approximately 38 million acres are included in the 
data base. Issues and methodologies employed concerning design, automation, 
analysis, product production, and maintenance are discussed. 
INTRODUCTION 
California is the most populous state in the United States, with most of the state’s population concentrated primarily 
in several large urban areas. The rural areas of California have traditionally been either resource or agricultural 
based economies, although in recent years, the rural areas of the state have experienced increasing population 
growth, resulting primarily from a migration from the urban centers of the state. 
Accompanying the growth and shift in population is an increasing demand for forest products, as well as an 
increasing concern for environmental protection. A key concern centers around the long-term viability of the state’s 
wildlife populations. The forested areas of California have been the focus of legislation since the early 1970’s, 
resulting in statutes such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Forest Management 
Act (NFMA) at the federal level, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Z’berg-Nejedly 
Forest Practice at the state level. As a result, many believe that California has the strictest set of regulations 
governing forest management activities of any other state in the country. 
Public concern over protection of wildlife populations and habitats continues, however, and this year there are three 
ballot initiatives aimed directly at forest management, each containing language that will result in significant 
changes in current policies on private forest lands in California. 
The Timber Association of California (TAC) believes that forest resource management as currently practiced on 
private lands in California can and does provide for diverse and thriving populations of wildlife dependent on forest 
ecosystems. Moreover, federal land management policies stemming from the requirements of NEPA and NFMA 
require careful and effective consideration of wildlife needs in concert with other forest resources.