The files linked to this reference are the geospatial data created as part of the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Current format is ArcGIS file geodatabase but older formats may exist as shapefiles.

James W. Sewall Company developed a complete GIS coverage for the park and revised the preliminary vegetation map classes to better match the results from the cluster analysis and NMS ordination. Polygons representing vegetation stands were digitized on-screen in ArcGIS 8.3, and later in ArcMap 9.1 and 9.2, using lines drawn on the acetate overlays, base layers of 1:8,000 CIR aerial photography, orthorectified photo composite image, and plot location and data. The minimum map unit used was 0.5 ha (1.24 ac). Stereo pairs were used to double check stand signatures during the digitizing process. Photo interpretation and polygon digitization extended outside the NPS boundary, especially where vegetation units were arbitrarily truncated by the boundary. Each polygon was attributed with the name of a vegetation map class or an Anderson Level II land use category based on plot data, field observations, aerial photography signatures, and topographic maps. Data fields identifying the USNVC association inclusions within the vegetation map class were attributed to the vegetation polygons in the shapefile. The GIS coverages and shapefiles were projected to Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 19 North American Datum 1983 (NAD83). FGDC compliant metadata (FGDC 1998a) were created with the NPS-MP ESRI extension and included with the vegetation map shapefile. A photointerpretation key to the map classes for the 2006 draft vegetation map is included as Appendix A. The composite vegetation coverage was clipped to the NPS 2002 MIMA boundary shapefile for accuracy assessment (AA). After the 2006 vegetation map was completed, the thematic accuracy of this map was assessed.