Enhancing access for natural resource professionals to geographic information systems: an example application

Geographic information systems (GIS) provide natural resource professionals with unparalleled capabilities for analyzing their spatial databases. However, most natural resource professionals will not become proficient in the use of GIS because this tool has a large amount of technical overhead. The Phase II EPPL Shell macro described in this paper was developed so that field-level forest and wildlife managers within the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources could enhance access to and spatially analyze their forest inventory database. The macro was developed through a strategic, interactive process of defining user needs, designing a product, implementation, and product enhancement based on user review. The tool allows simple queries of stand attribute data simplifies the generation of customized maps of selected stands and stand attributes, outputs tabular reports, and provides access to analysis tools such as buffer commands. The EPPL Shell macro is currently being used by field managers to better resolve forest land management conflicts caused by increasing demands on the forest resource.