Blue Ridge Parkway Wetlands Spatial Data Development and Analysis

Devine, Hugh; Shedd, Justin

The objectives of this project were to delineate and map as many of the approximately 83 wetlands within the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia as possible and to conduct a watershed analysis for the highest priority sites. This report documents the data development methodologies that were used to update and expand pre-existing spatial data related to wetlands. Accurate spatial data is essential in order make sound natural resource management decisions. Originally mapped by undocumented methods, the Blue Ridge Parkway had spatial data representing 83 wetlands within park the boundary. Unsure of the data’s integrity, the Parkway requested that the data be validated and if necessary updated. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses and mapping grade Global Positioning Systems (GPS) receivers, the spatial data representing these wetlands were updated. This report documents those efforts and highlights several wetlands facing pressure from current land use practices, within and outside of the park. In addition to updating the wetlands spatial data, additional watershed data were developed. While a watershed analysis of several wetlands was originally planned, the lack of available parcel data made this portion of the project impractical. Instead, 79 wetlands, including all of the wetlands initially represented by a point, were visited. Furthermore, the spatial representation for 82 wetlands was updated. These updated spatial data layers will enable the Blue Ridge Parkway to make land management decisions with the best available data.