Eastern Washington’s shrubsteppe is vital for sagebrush-dependent species like the Greater Sage-Grouse, yet it faces compounding threats from wildland fire, climate change, invasive species, and land conversion. When the Washington State Legislature funded WSRRI—steered jointly by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and State Conservation Commission (SCC)—the initiative faced two complex spatial questions: Where should limited public resources be allocated to maximize ecological resilience across millions of fragmented acres to combat habitat loss and fragmentation from these threats? And how can we track change over time and assess our effectiveness in conserving this ecosystem?
By partnering with TerrAdapt, WSRRI leveraged our cloud computing and satellite remote sensing expertise and technologies to map these regional spatial priorities and monitor their integrity. Powered by Google Earth Engine (GEE), TerrAdapt’s platform translates complex ecological variables into an actionable decision-support tool—enabling state agencies, Tribal nations, local governments, and NGOs to align around shared priorities and make investments in conservation where it matters most.
Importantly, mapping spatial priorities from a static, single-snapshot of environmental data was insufficient for capturing the region’s rapid vegetation shifts, year-to-year climate variability, and shifting fire regimes. TerrAdapt led WSRRI partner technical working groups to build a multi-tiered spatial prioritization framework grounded in dynamic remote sensing, using a 40 year time series of environmental data to build a robust prioritization that distinguished stable areas from places that were less resilient over time.
Key Capabilities Delivered
- Dynamic Monitoring and Assessment: TerrAdapt processed massive, multi-year fractional cover datasets (measuring invasive annual grass cover, perennial vegetation, and human footprint index) to evaluate ecological integrity of shrubsteppe and greater sage grouse habitat pixel-by-pixel, year-by-year for decades over the entire region, updated automatically each year.
- The "Defend, Grow, Connect" Paradigm: TerrAdapt operationalized this regional framework into spatial data products that aligned with the core principles of the Sagebrush Conservation Design:
- Defend the Core: High-quality, intact, and resilient habitat prioritized for protection and threat abatement.
- Grow the Core: Growth Opportunity Areas (GOAs) surrounding core habitats where strategic restoration expands habitat footprint.
- Connect the Core: Functional corridors modeled to maintain wildlife movement and genetic exchange across fragmented landscapes.
- Year-to-Year Stability: By analyzing multi-year time-series data, TerrAdapt filtered out short-term environmental noise to deliver robust, multi-temporal spatial priorities.
Key Impacts
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Legacy Approach |
TerrAdapt’s Approach |
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Data Recency |
Static, outdated snapshots produced by a manual GIS workflow that is time consuming and expensive to repeat on a regular schedule |
Dynamic, spatial data production and post-analysis, run on an annual schedule automatically, with minimal maintenance costs. |
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Spatial Scope |
Siloed, agency-specific maps with big data gaps and poor alignment across management boundaries. |
Seamless data provided wall-to-wall across the entire Columbia Plateau region encompassing all WSRRI partners. |
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Actionability |
Complex raw datasets that are difficult to make actionable and operationalize. |
A clear spatial prioritization that distills complex environmental data into a clear guidance on where and how to act strategically to conserve a resilient and connected network of habitats. |
- Direct Guidance for State Funding: The State Conservation Commission (SCC) and WDFW integrated TerrAdapt’s spatial priority maps into competitive grant solicitations. Local conservation districts and landowners now use these maps to target post-fire recovery, wildlife-friendly fencing, and habitat restoration investments.
- Cross-Boundary Alignment: Provided a transparent, shared "single source of truth" for state agencies, local governments, Tribal entities, and NGOs working across regional boundaries.
- Open-Access Data and Visualization: All spatial layers freely available on TerrAdapt’s web application and associated bulk download site, democratizing access to enterprise-grade conservation science for local practitioners.
"TerrAdapt’s technology allowed us to convert vast amounts of complex satellite data into clear, defensible priorities. By mapping where to defend existing intact habitat, where to restore surrounding areas, and where to maintain corridors, we can ensure every public dollar achieves maximum long-term conservation impact."
— WSRRI Collaborative Partner
You can read more about this project here:
https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/habitat-recovery/shrubsteppe