The Land Trust of Napa County works to protect the natural diversity, scenic open space and agricultural vitality of Napa County by preserving lands with significant conservation values for present and future generations and by fostering an appreciation and understanding of the natural environment.

The Land Trust first came to GreenInfo Network in 1997 to help them begin to use GIS. The first project was to develop a database of all their protected lands which allowed them to better organize their internal information, and, for the first time, clearly see the impact that they had on land protection in their county. They quickly realized that this map would not only help them internally, but that it could also be used to help them educate the public about their work and success. Their poster map of the protected lands of Napa County has become an icon for their organization (at right).

Another aspect of The Land Trust’s work is the management of the lands that they protect. This can involve the protection of key biological and historical resources, development and maintenance of public access and trails, monitoring of easement restrictions, and a host of other tasks. GreenInfo Network, working with the trust and a local biologist, developed a detailed vegetation map of one preserve (below right). This map took advantage of a variety of datasets that were available: USGS DRGs (scanned topographic maps), detailed vegetation data layer, and GPS points obtained by a field biologist.

One of the more complicated aspects of The Napa County Land Trust’s work is determining which lands to protect. As stated in their mission, they work to protect natural diversity, open space, and agriculture. That’s a lot of information for one organization to try and make sense out of. GreenInfo Network was able to bring together information from these various fields and integrate them into maps that assist The Land Trust in determining priorities (see below). Building on existing datasets that we created for The Land Trust and related projects, we were able to put together a series of maps that illustrate key factors like ownership, farmland type, natural habitat and their spatial correlation. These maps help The Land Trust visualize where they need to focus their efforts. They also help in fundraising by showing potential foundations and donors that The Land Trust has a scientifically based and robust plan for land acquisition, protection, and management.

The Land Trust continues to actively use GIS for their land protection work. They maintain an in-house GIS that they use to create quick and simple maps of parcels, they update their holdings and county-wide map on a yearly basis, and they regularly explore new ways to integrate GIS into their organization.