Wetlands

Wetland Classification.
In addition to vegetation composition, the Stewardship Advisory Team realized the importance of wetland resources on project lands. The OMBIL data entry requirement is that you enter the known acres of wetlands on your project. The minimum inputs should be those identified wetland acres as classified using the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States. These do not have to be all the jurisdictional wetlands, which we understand may be a tremendous effort to delineate. As part of the FWS National Wetland Inventory (NWI) Program, there are existing hard copy maps, available GIS raster files and online wetland mapping tools that may assist you in collecting wetland acreage data.

The following links may assist you in understanding the NWI classification and potential sources for gathering the information.

Spreadsheet of Classifications of Wetland and Deepwater Habitats of the U.S. National Wetland Inventory classification. This excel document provides the structure of the U.S. Fish and Wildife Service wetland classification system through the Subclass level and presents the full wetland type definitions. This classification standard is used as the basis for the U.S .Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory (NWI). If you want to see the full hierarchy of this classification system to understand the wetland Divisions, Orders, Classes and Sub-classes, please refer to this document.

Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory Web page. The official page of the National Wetland Inventory. Provides links to data sources and trend data of the NWI. The same classification is utilized to report wetland acreages in OMBIL.

CLASSIFICATION OF WETLANDS AND DEEPWATER HABITATS OF THE UNITED STATES By Lewis M. Cowardin U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

A new online FWS wetland mapper. This new version of the Wetlands Mapper is designed to promote greater awareness of wetlands map data applications and to deliver easy-to-use, map like views of America's wetland resources in a digital format. You can select wetlands in the NWI inventory format and retrieve wetland acreage.

Wetland Code Definitions. This web page provides definitions for the wetland map codes. Many of the hard copy and digital maps are identified by codes (ex. POW) and not their full name (Palustrine Open Water). This definition list will provide a full name and definition. The full names are utilized in OMBIL.

National Wetland Map Downloads Download National Wetland Map files or hard copy maps from the Fish and Wildlife Service to your computer.

OMBIL Wetlands Inventory Procedure for GIS