Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool
Frequently Asked Questions
The Western Governors’ CHAT website provides answers to many frequently asked questions about the Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool.
ADF&G wants to ensure a clear understanding of this tool, what it is, how it can be used, and what it is not. The Alaska CHAT serves coarse-scale wildlife information that is not intended for regulatory use. While the WGA version online now displays Alaska’s wildlife information in 10 square mile hexagons, the Alaska CHAT is expected to provide finer resolution information depending on the mapping layer and application of the data used to build it. With respect to this, the CHAT is not intended for project siting.
Further, this tool is based on biological data and analyzed within the context of the data. Mapping products published here have been assessed by regional biologists and biometricians to ensure that areas displayed by species and level of crucial habitat reflects an appropriate use of the data relative to the number of data points collected and the landscape scale.
Once populated with more data and mapping products, the interactive portion of this application will allow the user to compare their area of interest with crucial habitat as defined by ADF&G. Information presented here is not biased in favor of, or against, any particular forms of development. The tool is designed as a planning tool for conservation and development. While its applications are broad, the CHAT is not tied to regulations that dictate land use for any public or private entity.
Species use of habitat changes over time. Biologists have noted this truth repeatedly in reports and research articles. The CHAT is a dynamic tool that requires regular updating as new information becomes available. Although the “maintenance schedule” to update map layers has not yet been set, it will depend on the survey schedule and success of the results by species in each of ADF&Gs five regions of Wildlife Conservation. Variables that affect habitat use across the landscape may be identifiable through field observations, or clues to species behavior may need to be modeled and assessed over several years to determine possible conclusions. These influences will guide CHAT updates over time.