Busy Field Work Season Begins

From May 16-22, six GSS staff members traveled across central and northwestern North Dakota to conduct field verification of aerial imagery and photointerpretation conventions for the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) update. Staff split into two teams to cover more ground, with Kevin Stark, Darren Omoth, and Mike Knudson in one vehicle, and Nick Lemcke, Jeff Knopf, and Kathy Allen in another. During the week, the GSS teams were joined by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff from the Regional NWI program for three days, and also met up with local USFWS managers in the Crosby area and at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge. Highlights of the trip included visiting the many National Wildlife Refuges scattered across the state, including some alkaline lakes and flats that serve as habitat for the threatened piping plover (Great Plains population), and spotting a wide variety of waterfowl and wading birds.

Locations of check-sites that were visited during May field verification.