The JV and partners collaborate to develop and distribute GIS tools for bird conservation planning. The integration of GIS datasets into tools can support environmental restoration and conservation projects towards achieving geo-transparency and data-driven insights for bird conservation.
Migratory Bird – Conservation Planning Tool
The Migratory Bird – Conservation Planning Tool (MB-CPT) is a visualization and decision support tool meant to assist landowners, organizations, and agencies in making effective conservation decisions with limited resources. Created by Ryan Brodie, with assistance from Liam Berigan and Amber Roth, MB-CPT was developed at the University of Maine with funding from the USFWS Region 3 Migratory Bird Program. The spatial products focus on 4 Nearctic-Neotropical migratory bird species: Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea), Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera), and Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). These products consist of current (2012 to 2021) overwinter distributions, future (2050) overwinter distributions under best- and worst-case climate scenarios, and migratory habitats (i.e., pathway and stopover). Please note that these products are subject to change at any time based on feedback from users and reviewers.
Questions, problems, and requests for information should be directed to Ryan Brodie at ryan.brodie56@gmail.com.
The Great Lakes Airspace Map – A Decision Support Tool
The Great Lakes basin is known to be important to both birds and bats, but little was known quantitatively about basin-wide concentration areas that could inform conservation priorities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Avian Radar Project was initiated specifically to more fully describe spring and fall migrations and identify areas important to nocturnally migrating birds and migratory and non-migratory bats.
Find more information at the Avian Radar website. You can find a link to the Great Lakes Airspace Map DST and a user’s guide on the website, along with project reports and data.
Check out the The Great Lakes Airspace Map – a Decision Support Tool Story Map.
Great Lakes Stopover Map Tool
Stopover sites are places where migrating birds stop to rest, refuel and seek shelter en route between breeding and wintering areas. The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supported development of this application. TNC collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Southern Mississippi, many conservation organizations, universities, and corporations to model stopover habitat and create this web portal.
Note: Stopover map tool, currently unavailable. Updated Dec 2025.
The Midwest Landscape Initiative
The Midwest Landscape Initiative (MLI) is a collaboration of Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies member states, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, and the US Geological Survey to identify shared landscape-scale fish and wildlife conservation priorities and to work with others to develop and implement effective conservation solutions. The Midwest Conservation Blueprint is a basemap of priority lands and waters for conservation, reflecting a diverse set of 20+ social and environmental values.