
The Institute for Natural Resources (INR) uses, processes, and maintains several types of GIS data, including: data for which INR is the official data steward; project specific databases; and local copies of other regional and local data.
INR maintains Oregon's most comprehensive database of rare, threatened and endangered species through its Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC). This database includes site-specific information on the occurrences, biology, and status of over 2,000 species throughout Oregon. It includes the state's only database of natural vegetation, with descriptions and information on the occurrences and protected locations of all known ecosystem types. As part of the Natural Heritage Network overseen by Natureserve, ORBIC is able to share this data internationally.
Data Requests
Information about requesting occurrence data for at-risk species can be found here.
Data Submission
We are constantly striving to improve our datasets and to incorporate all information available on rare, threatened and endangered species of Oregon. We incorporate survey information from a variety of sources including state and federal agencies, non-profit conservation groups, independent contractors, and private organizations. If you have information on any of these species (see our Rare Species of Oregon page for the most recent list) and would like to submit a sighting report, you can use our animal form or plant form, or contact us (see contact information below). We also accept digital datasets (databases, spreadsheets, GIS files, etc). If you notice any errors or have any questions regarding the book or this web site, please contact us.
Sue Vrilakas (for plant information)
[email protected] or by phone at 503-725-9950
Eleanor Gaines (for animal information)
[email protected] or by phone at 503-725-9952
The Oregon Imagery Explorer Image Viewing and Extraction tool enables users to view, compare, stream, and download National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) orthoimagery from multiple years since 1995, as well as available Pictometry and Lidar elevation products.
The Oregon Spatial Data Library provides public access to reliable and up-to-date spatial data. Currently, hundreds of spatial datasets are accessible including all of the statewide framework data available for Oregon. These datasets serve as base data or a variety of Geographic Information System (GIS) applications that support research, business and public services in Oregon and surrounding areas
Statewide database for rare species statuses as well as known current and historical sites. Updated continually. Contact ORBIC to request data. Digital data sharing restricted as per user agreements.
Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species of Oregon lists
Updated every 2-3 years.
Updated as needed.
Spatial observation database for non-RTE invertebrate and vertebrate species. Updated biannually.
Updated every 5 years, including the register of natural heritage areas.
Updated every 5-10 years. Shows natural vegetation types and landcover for Oregon. Data is part of the USGS Gap Analysis Program, and maps developed extend to northern California, southern Idaho and Eastern Washington (http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/)
Updated continually. Data sharing restricted as per user agreements.
Oregon Stewardship Geodatabase
Catalogs and attributes all managed areas in Oregon, including federal, state, county, and private protected areas and easements.
Updated every 4-5 years, or on an as-needed basis. A protected areas database for Oregon, developed to USGS standards, based on the Oregon Stewardship geodatabase.
Reports posted to the INR Publications page or OSU Scholars Archive.
Questions about ORBIC data and data requests can be directed to [email protected].
INR has numerous project-specific databases that include primary data collection (such as from National Park Service projects) and processed data. Data can be processed numerous ways including: 1) modeled and imputed data, 2) standard GIS and image processing techniques, and 3) database processing. Highlights of recent project-project specific data and databases include:
Sage-Grouse Conservation Partnership (SageCon) was convened by the Oregon Governor's Office, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2013 to proactively address USFWS’s 2015 Sage-Grouse listing decision in 2015. By addressing key threats to sagebrush habitat, SageCon has been working collaboratively with ranching and farming communities in central and eastern Oregon, as well as emerging industries such as mining and renewable energy, to ensure species protection for sage-grouse protection. The goal for the collaborative effort was to develop an “all lands, all threats” plan for sage-grouse conservation in Oregon. Data used for the plan are publicly available.
INR has completed or is in the process of completing several vegetation mapping, inventory, and classification projects for the National Park Service (NPS). These datasets are published through the NPS North Coast and Cascades Network website upon final acceptance and publication of the reports and associated data.
Vegetation estimated and structure modeling using models such as random forest, canonical correlation and other imputation methods; or species models using similar tools and data. Examples of this include:
Simulations of water supply and demand under various climate and population growth scenarios developed with couple human and natural systems model. Developed as part of a National Science Foundation project focused on water scarcity.
Data can be processed using standard GIS operations and image processing techniques. There are numerous raster based datasets that are used to evaluate land use and cover. These raster databases typically represent one point in time and are from aerial photography or from Thematic Mapper imagery. These have been used (in conjunction with other data) to map current vegetation in the Portland metropolitan area through image classification, etc. Details of these data are provided in next section.
Numerous GIS database have complex data designs that require database management and modeling to build geographic databases. INR staff utilizes database management systems including Oracle, SQL/Sever and Access to programmatically build specific databases. One example includes soils, which have variable depths and numerous attributes. Specific database programs have been used at INR to build depth dependent data sets. For instance, for input into global climatic models, we developed programs to build databases for the 3 separate soils profiles (top 50 cm, 50 to 200 cm, and below 200 cm) for primary attributes including (see Appendix A for complete list):
These programs have been modified to build output that provide depth integrated (one number representing the entire profile) for other soils characteristics such as natural drainage, etc. In addition, there are numerous GIS databases which are temporal in nature and continuously changing. These event based datasets typically maintain a base GIS coverage with linkage to on-line data systems.
INR uses numerous data sources that identify the specific location in time and numerous attributes associated with the event. Examples of this include many point/sample locations where on-going data collection is occurring. These databases require specialized database programming and mapping techniques. This includes common and updated linkages to online time series data collection activities, specifically including:
There are numerous sources of digital data that are digitally available and INR staff maintains copies of these databases (in project-specific formats) for use in analyses. Thes include:
Standard GIS libraries data is available from numerous portal, web services and data libraries such as the Oregon State GIS Data library at Oregon Department of Administration and online tools such as the Oregon Imagery Explorer, the National GIS Portal, and other online libraries. Other online services include:
This is a map of Oregon's 77 habitats created in 2018, based on 2016 imagery. The map is to be used to help map the distribution of wildlife habitat in Oregon, and is a reflect of current vegetation conditions across the state.
View metadata and download map.
Existing and Predicted Vegetation
The Integrated Landscape Assessment Project for Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico produced many vegetation maps and datasets for Oregon, including existing vegetation and forest structure as well as predicted vegetation based on various management and climate states.
NW ReGAP Ecological Systems Map of Oregon
In the 2000s ORBIC received funding from OWEB to integrate all available 1:24,000 vegetation maps and coverages. Previously, the only statewide vegetation or land coverages available for Oregon had been the two OR-GAP coverages described below. ORBIC and OR-GAP has worked hard to link all existing vegetation coverages to the National Vegetation Classification System. The newest version of the map, a grid of ecological systems throughout Oregon, was created in 2010 and is available from the Oregon DAS GEO Spatial Data Library.
Creating Historical Vegetation Maps
Land managers and researchers often want to know what a landscape looked like years ago, to compare how the ecology has changed, assess the rate of change, and make decisions about how to manage the area for the future.
ORBIC and its partners have created datasets of historical vegetation at both fine and coarse scales, using several different data sources. Read more and view coverages by clicking below or on the menu links at left.
Historical vegetation based on General Land Office (GLO) and U.S. Coast Survey (Scale: 1:24,000). GLO data integrated with U.S. Coast Survey topographic maps ("T-Sheets") where available.
Oregon statewide composite historical vegetation (Scale: 1:100,000). A synthesis of data from several sources, including GLO coverage where available.
Available Historical Vegetation Maps
Historical vegetation maps available for download include:
In conjunction with NatureServe, INR is making updated remote sensing-based vegetation maps for the major national parks in the Pacific Northwest. Detecting climate change impacts on the distribution of vegetation requires an accurate map of baseline conditions made using a repeatable methodology. The National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring Program has embarked on a major vegetation mapping project for Mount Rainier, Olympic, North Cascades, and Lewis and Clark National Parks.
The new vegetation maps will use the recently revised National Vegetation Classification System. They will be targeted to the Alliance level, roughly equivalent to dominant canopy species with some major types further differentiated by temperature or moisture modifiers. Multitemporal Landsat TM imagery, supple-mented by color-infrared aerial photography, LiDAR elevation and vegetation height data where available, and extensive field training data collection, will form the basis of the mapping, which will be performed using Random Forests data mining techniques. The new maps will provide a baseline against which to measure vegetation change and will also provide useful inputs for studies of the impacts of climate change on a variety of vegetation processes, including carbon dynamics and disturbance.
Final products will be available from the National Park Service website at their Natural Resource Reports page.
Oregon Explorer
With hundreds of map layers available to draw from, you can use the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer to make your own custom map and share it with others. If you need guidance, watch tutorials on how to use the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer.
Oregon Water Atlas (Institute for Water and Watersheds)
This interactive site include visualizations of Oregon water data created entirely with open-source software and publically available data. OSU student Gareth Baldrica-Franklin created the atlas as part of his undergraduate honors thesis.
Starting the Oregon Gap Analysis Project, the Oregon Biodiversity Information Center has been developing and maintaining a GIS coverage showing the distribution of Protected Areas in Oregon for many years. USGS GAP status is used to easily classify managed areas as being protected primarily for biodiversity verus lands without biodiversity protections (GAP status of 1 being most protected, 4 being not protected). Several other designations and descriptions are included in the datasets, covering federal, state, local, and private managed lands as available. The stewardship coverage is continually updated as new areas are protected or designated, or as land ownership patterns change.
Three Oregon managed area datasets are available from ORBIC:
Several other public land coverages are available at the Oregon DAS GEO Spatial Data Library.
Willamette Water Quality Map (Institute for Water and Watersheds)
This map highlights water pollution issues in the Willamette River system. It was produced by the Corvallis Environmental Center and the Institute for Water and Watersheds and published in August of 2008. The map can be downloaded as a PDF -- map front, descriptive text from map back.
The Oregon Wetlands Cover represents the most comprehensive dataset available for the location and composition of the state's wetlands. It uses as a base all available digital data from the National Wetland Inventory (NWI; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USFWS), to which has been added draft NWI mapping (Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center and The Wetlands Conservancy, ORNHIC and TWC), mapping from Local Wetland Inventories (LWIs; Department of State Lands, DSL), wetlands along state highways (Oregon Department of Transportation, ODOT), and mapping of individual sites by a variety of federal, state, academic, and nonprofit sources.
View map description and download layer.
Oregon has lost over half of the wetlands present when the first settlers arrived in the 1800s. To ensure that the remaining wetlands are conserved, The Wetlands Conservancy has identified Oregon's Greatest Wetlands. While all wetlands are important, Oregon's Greatest Wetlands identifies the most biologically significant wetlands in Oregon. A group of twenty wetland ecologists, familiar with the entire state of Oregon, identified the locations of the biologically important wetlands. The next step was collecting and adding information for wetland resources identified by the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, National Wetlands Inventory, Coastal, Klamath and Willamette Valley Sub Basin Plans, and Oregon Biodiversity Program. Wetland ecologists were then asked to review and add to the maps. Simultaneously we collected existing physiographic and biological information about each of the sites.
Link to webinars, presentations, and tool tutorials from events and meetings involving INR and ORBIC staff.
Presentations about fisher research at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society, Fish Camp, California, February 2019.
View presentations from the Mid and North Coast Water Monitoring Summit, held February 28 and March 1, 2018 in Newport, Oregon.
SB202: Independent Science Reviews for Natural Resources in the State of Oregon Final Report Overview – September 21, 2016
Presentation to the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
Observations, Ecological Monitoring, and Temporal Data - April 2016
Presentation at the Biodiversity Without Boundaries 2016 Conference by Lindsey Wise
Lisa Gaines' presentation to the Higher Education Coordinating Committee about the Institute for Natural Resources. This document is a PDF of the presentation slides.
The Available Science Assessment Project: Evaluating the Supporting Science behind Climate Adaptation Actions – November 3-5, 2015
Presentation at the 6th Annual Northwest Climate Conference in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
Oregon Explorer Land Use Information Tutorial – June 24, 2015
Myrica McCune provides a 5-minute tutorial of how land use planners can use information that is part of the Oregon Explorer. The land use planners project was sponsored by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.
Willamette Water 2100 (WW2100) Webinar Series – May 5, 2015
WW2100 is a National Science Foundation project that is being managed by the Institute for Water and Watersheds. Through WW2100, Oregon State University (OSU), the University of Oregon (UO), and Portland State University (PSU) are collaborating to comprehensively, and integratively, examine hydrological, ecological, and human factors affecting water scarcity in the Willamette River Basin. The series of webinars that have been presented since 2013 highlight some of the work that the WW2100 researchers are engaged in.
Lindsey Wise’s PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF) about the wider uses of iMapInvasives. iMapInvasives is an online, GIS-based invasive species reporting and querying tool developed through a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe, the New York Natural Heritage Program, and Florida Natural Areas Inventory, and many other collaborators.
Megan Creutzburg provides an overview of the research results of a project that uses climate-smart state and transition models to address climate change, local land management and future Greater Sage Grouse habitat. The project was funded by the NW Climate Science Center.
Todd Jarvis talks about hydrofracking to an international audience.
Jimmy Kagan provides an overview about Step 6 (Ecosystem Services Crediting Systems) of the Integrated Ecological Framework (IEF). The IEF is designed to link conservation and transportation planning. The project was funded by the Federal Highway Administration.
Jessica Halofsky provides an overview to stakeholders of the research results of a project that uses climate-smart state and transition models to address climate change, local land management and future Northern Spotted Owl habitat. The project was funded by the NW Climate Science Center and the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
Megan Creutzburg provides an overview of the kick-off of a project that uses climate-smart state and transition models to address climate change, local land management and future Greater Sage Grouse habitat. The project was funded by the NW Climate Science Center.
Jessica Halofsky provides an overview to stakeholders of the start of a project that uses climate-smart state and transition models to address climate change, local land management and future Northern Spotted Owl habitat. The project was funded by the NW Climate Science Center and the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
These tutorials were made before the current redesign of the Oregon Explorer. The tutorials remain relevant in providing an overview of the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer, and demonstating some of its uses, such as creating maps using the map viewer and showing the available handy tools. The last tutorial shows how to use the Oregon Watershed Restoration Tool. The 4 tutorials are less than 8 minutes each.
Lindsey Wise’s PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF) about mapping invasive species through iMapInvasives. iMapInvasives is an online, GIS-based invasive species reporting and querying tool developed through a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe, the New York Natural Heritage Program, and Florida Natural Areas Inventory, and many other collaborators.
Lindsey Wise’s PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF) about the collaborative nature of iMapInvasives. iMapInvasives is an online, GIS-based invasive species reporting and querying tool developed through a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, NatureServe, the New York Natural Heritage Program, and Florida Natural Areas Inventory, and many other collaborators.
View presentations and breakout group notes from the Mid and North Coast Water Monitoring Summit, held February 28 and March 1, 2018 in Newport, Oregon.
With hundreds of map layers available to draw from, you can use the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer to make your own custom map and share it with others. If you need guidance, watch tutorials on how to use the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer.
We have a Silverlight based viewer that is full featured, but is not supported on all browsers. You can use Internet Explorer, install Firefox Extended Edition, or add IE-On-Chrome extension.
There is also a lightweight HTML version that is not as full featured, but will be soon!
Explore data and maps from a variety of sources to learn more about natural resources and land management issues in the West.
Simple place-based mapping and charting of floodplains, demographics, habitat, land use, and more.
The Oregon Imagery Explorer Image Viewing tool enables users to view, compare, and stream National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) orthoimagery from multiple years since 1995.
The Oregon Spatial Data Library provides public access to reliable and up-to-date spatial data. Currently, hundreds of spatial datasets are accessible including all of the statewide framework data available for Oregon. These datasets serve as base data or a variety of Geographic Information System (GIS) applications that support research, business and public services in Oregon and surrounding areas.
The Communities Reporter is a unique resource for community practitioners as it links over 1000 places and 36 counties in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California to data gathered at the place, census tract, and county levels by various agencies and institutions.
Map demographic, social and economic data from the Community Reporter Database in our Oregon Explorer Map Viewer. Select geography types, years and topics to map in an interactive display.
The Tracking Oregon's Progress (TOP) Indicators project tracks a key set of metrics that reflect state priorities as expressed in the Oregon Benchmarks and the 10-year Plan.
The Oregon Hazards Reporter allows you to access hazards data from multiple state and federal agencies, and to report on known hazards for specific areas.
Map viewer containing information to support land use planners, including: administrative boundaries, hazards, transportation, hydric soils, wetlands, protected areas, and more.
Dynamic map displaying zoning data from 169 local jurisdictions compiled by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.
The purposes of the Measure 49 Analyzer are to provide Measure 49 property owners with tools to search for a Measure 37/49 claim property by election number, claim name, or interactively from the map; view authorized Measure 37/49 claim property boundaries and the numbers of new dwellings, new parcels, and total home sites authorized by the final order; find and download a “Final Order and Home Site Authorization”; view simplified maps of areas that are high-value farmland, high-value forestland and ground water restricted as specifically defined in Measure 49; and calculate and create a downloadable report of the percentages of high-value farmland and high-value forestland area within a claim property.
View changes to Urban Growth Boundaries through time.
As part of the SageCon partnership, Oregon committed to limiting the amount of human development within sage grouse core habitat in an effort to conserve the species. On September 16, 2015, Governor Brown signed Executive Order 15-18 which directed the OR Dept. of Land Conservation & Development (DLCD) to maintain a central registry of development on all lands within sage grouse habitat in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and county governments. The central registry must use the adopted baseline level of development within each Priority Area for Conservation (PAC) and track the location and extent of new development in each PAC over time.
Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 660-023-0115 identifies significant sage grouse habitat and directs counties to apply a hierarchy of mitigation to land use proposals. The rule also establishes a metering mechanism that allows only 1% of each PAC to be developed per 10-year increment, and establishes a hard ceiling that would not allow human-caused development to ever occupy more than 3% of any PAC. This tool shows the human development within the sage grouse PACs. Users can run a report to see the amount of development relative to the 1% and 3% development thresholds.
The Sage-Grouse Data viewer is an Oregon Explorer web-based mapping application that allows the public to access up-to-date data layers related to Sage-Grouse habitat and threats in Oregon. Users can view data for the entire Sage-Grouse range in Oregon, or navigate to their location of interest, while advanced users can download data for analysis. The Viewer includes a suite of theme-based scores that rate areas across eastern Oregon by their habitat viability, fire and invasives threat, biodiversity significance, and energy development potential. Each theme consists of multiple indicator datasets which are also included in the Viewer. Supplemental data layers are included in the Viewer such as vegetation condition, previous wildfire perimeters, seasonal sage-grouse habitat, and sage-grouse habitat management boundaries.
Access restoration project information and download data for Oregon Plan basins, subbasins or watershed councils. This tool was created in partnership with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) to show the locations of and information from the Oregon Watershed Restoration Inventory (OWRI) Database and Fish Passage Inventory data.
Use this tool to report on total number of restoration projects and investments for Oregon and it's basins, subbasins, counties and watershed councils for a time period selected by the user. Includes bar charts, pie charts and funding reports and outcomes for instream, riparian, fish passage, road, upland, wetland, estuarine, urban, fish screening and instream flow restoration activities.
This tool allows you to explore how OWEB grant funding is distributed across the state. The tool provides basic information on grants in progress and those that have been completed (e.g. project name, start year, OWEB funding amount). The Oregon Watershed Restoration Inventory provides more detailed information on completed restoration projects
Identify mapped wetlands, water bodies, rare wetland types, and federally-listed species that may occur in, or within 100 feet of, your project area within Oregon's Willamette Valley. Multiple wetland-related data layers are available for mapping.
Locate the most appropriate sites to implement restoration within a given watershed (watersheds are typically 4th level, 8-digit HUCs). The Oregon Wetland Restoration Planning Tool strives to identify which wetland complexes are the best to restore, based on current wetland condition, land management status, suitable soils, hydrology, and proximity to existing restoration projects, and also what plant materials to use for the job.
The Oregon Rapid Wetland Assessment Protocol (ORWAP) is a standardized method for rapidly assessing the functions and values of wetlands. The ORWAP tool provides site-specific mapping and reporting information needed to answer a small but important subset of ORWAPs 140 indicator questions. It also allows ORWAP users to upload completed assessments. The entire ORWAP protocol (manual, spreadsheets, data forms, policy guidance) can be viewed or downloaded from the Department of State Lands website.
The Oregon Wildlife Viewer is a tool to get specific wildlife species information for amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles and generate species lists for places in Oregon.
Create habitat, vegetation, and fish distribution maps with the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer with the wildlife theme selected. Use the tutorial to learn how to make wildlife-related advanced maps.
Obtain meaningful information about important, sensitive, rare and listed forest species and habitats that could be found, or restored, on a landowner's property. View species and ecological systems data aggregated to the 6th field watershed, and gain easy access to the species status with respect to distribution or rareness, as well as a measure of the watersheds importance to maintaining populations of that species or habitat.
iMapInvasives is an online, GIS-based invasive species reporting and querying tool. It is focused on the need for land managers, regional planners, and others who are working to prevent, control, or manage invasive species to have locational information for where invasive species can be found. To access point distribution maps, view detailed observation records, enter sightings online, run reports and queries, and otherwise take full advantage of the iMapInvasives site, you will need to request a login. More information about iMapInvasives can be found here.
Looking for local fresh, farm grown produce, natural meats and cheese, or crafts? Whether you are planning a trip to Oregon, planning to move here, or already live here, this tool can help identify the farmers markets and roadside stands most convenient to you.
The Oregon Century Farm and Ranch Program was established in 1958 to honor the state's rich agricultural heritage by awarding farm and ranch families with sesquicentennial and century-long connections to the land. The Century Farm and Ranch Public Data Export database is hosted by Oregon Explorer for the Oregon Century Farm and Ranch Program and provides information gathered from the award applications for Century and Sesquicentennial (150 year) farms and ranches throughout Oregon.
Create maps of the number of century and sesquicentennial farms and ranches by county with the Oregon Explorer Map Viewer with the century farms and ranches theme selected.