Click here to register for this archived webinar, recorded July 27, 2016.

This presentation will introduce participants to the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP) and the award-winning Pennsylvania Conservation Explorer, an online tool for conservation planning and PNDI environmental review.

The tool provides access to biodiversity information, leading to better planning and fewer project impacts on rare, threatened, endangered species and resources of special concern.

Participants will learn how to

• Generate custom conservation planning reports
• Create PNDI receipts for pre-screening land use changes and ground-disturbing projects
• Search the online map for natural resource features and their attributes

Registered users of the tool can explore areas for potential impacts to rare, threatened and endangered species habitats. Topics covered in this webinar will include:

• Mapping, searching and changing base layers;
• Displaying and sharing conservation information for planning and environmental reviews;
• Querying the map for protected lands, species habitats, and high-value surface water resources;
• Compiling natural heritage area inventory reports;
• Importing shapefiles and map services to perform project screenings;
• Previewing screening areas and analysis layers;
• Viewing submitted projects and their status; and
• Uploading project documents for review.

Kent Taylor is a Natural Resources Program Specialist at the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Bureau of Forestry in Harrisburg. He has 23 years of experience working for state and local governments and non-profit organizations in six U.S. states and three foreign countries.

As Associate Director at Openlands in Chicago, Kent was one of the coauthors of the award-winning Chicago Wilderness’ Biodiversity Recovery Plan, and he led one of the first regional metropolitan-area water trails projects in the U.S.

Since 2004, Kent has led numerous projects to automate web mapping applications in health, environmental protection, natural resources, and recreational trails and greenways. Kent has served on several advisory boards and is currently helping lead an effort to develop the 1,300-mile September Eleventh National Memorial Trail.

This presentation is available at no charge, but you must register through LGA Online (first time users to LGA Online will need to set up a user account then click “I Have an Enrollment Key” at the bottom. Returning users can just sign in).