Pacific Islands Geographic Information System Working Project Plan

NOAA Coastal Services Center

The U.S. has a strategic presence in the Pacific with the insular areas of American Samoa, Guam, and CNMI. These islands, in conjunction with the State of Hawaii, comprise a wealth of diverse ecological, cultural, and strategic resources. Like their island cousins of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Atlantic, the Pacific Islands (minus Hawaii) share a multitude of regulations and institutional arrangements to incorporate local, native, and traditional governments, with which most U.S. states are unfamiliar. The Pacific Island territories and the state of Hawaii participate in the Coastal Zone Management Program, which was developed under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451-1464). CZMA establishes a national policy ¿to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance, the resources of the Nation¿s coastal zone for this and succeeding generations. It provides federal funds and outlines general guidelines for development and administration of the program. Participation is voluntary, and states or territories are given flexibility in how they deal with their particular issues. The islands are dealing with issues such as coastal hazards, public access, urban growth, wetland degradation, and habitat loss. A particularly important habitat issue is the degradation of coral reefs. Executive Order 13089 was issued on June 11, 1998, and deals specifically with the preserva[tion] and protec[tion] of the biodiversity, health, heritage, and social and economic value of U.S. coral reef ecosystems and the marine environment. The majority of the U.S. coral reefs reside within the exclusive economic zone of the islands. Management of these issues could be greatly enhanced through the increased use of geospatial technologies, access to well-documented geospatial data, and data sharing policies between partner agencies. This plan outlines the development of the Pacific Islands Geographic Information System (Islands GIS) project. The project will concentrate on data and infrastructure necessary to directly support the agencies and the other networked organizations charged with carrying out the CZMA. This project intends to assist in functions such as coordinating GIS, GPS, hardware, and software purchases; providing GIS, GPS, and metadata training; developing spatial data layers and associated metadata; creating and maintaining an informational Web site; maintaining an inter-island listserver to foster communication; and providing technical and personnel support to the Island region.

Pacific Islands Geographic Information System Working Project Plan

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