With natural resource conservation being such a hot topic, it is important to be able to inform and educate the public about invasive species dispersion and impacts. To assist with such efforts, the Vilas County Mapping Department has teamed with the Invasive Species Coordinator to help create effective teaching and reference materials that can be updated in a timely manner using GPS and other techniques. Examples of procedures and products will be showcased, as well as other invasive species issues and initiatives which illustrate departmental cooperation and creative funding.

1. Cooperative Efforts and Practices of the
Invasive Species Coordinator and Mapping Department

2.  Partnerships
 Departments
 Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D)
 Regional Groups
 Equipment
 Pen/Paper
 Handheld GPS
 ArcPad
 ArcGIS
 Personal Mobile Devices?

3.  Find a usable coordinate format
 Create a feature class from the XY table
 Play connect-the-dots using point attributes

4.  Objective: To quantify the extent of garlic mustard
growing in the heart of town and identify on whose
lands it was growing.
 Field mapping equipment:
 Handheld basic GPS receiver
 Paper & pen to record starting and ending waypoint for
each polygon
 Method:
 Collected polygon points around each patch
 Requested map showing patch sizes and parcel lines

7.  Objective: To determine total miles of SK along county
roadway ROW and evaluate potential for bio-control
implementation
 Field mapping equipment:
 Handheld basic GPS receiver
 Paper & pen to record stop and start waypoint numbers
for each
 Method:
 Collected via “windshield” survey
 Requested map highlighting ROW infestations

9.  Objective:
 Evaluate selected private forest lands for presence of
invasive plants
 To increase invasives awareness by landowners
 Project partners:
 Local RC&D provided funding
 Vilas County provided employment services for field
technician
 Conserve School provided housing for technician
 WHIP (weed co-op) provided Trimble unit
 Mapping Dept. programmed Trimble

12.  Objective: Survey all county roads ROW for presence
of invasive plants in advance of developing ROW
invasive species management plans for Highway
Commissioners
 Project partners:
 Local RC&D provided funding and employment services
to hire two LTEs
 WHIP providing use of two Trimble units and oversight
of LTEs
 Mapping Depts. programmed Trimble units

13. Species [name list], Notes [text]
WHIP Roadside Invasives Survey WHIP Roadside Invasives Survey
AREA Collection LINE Collection
Species Species
WHIP Roadside Invasives Survey
Notes Notes
POINT Collection
Species
Approx Woody Species Plant Count
Approx Non-Woody Species Area (ft2)
Notes
Count [<10, 10-50, >50], Area [<50, 50-500, >500]

14.  Objective: Survey 70 shoreline miles of Eagle river chained
lakes for presence of PL plants to evaluate need for bio-
control project
 Project partners:
 Chain of Lakes Association volunteers
 Vilas Mapping Dept.
 Method:
 Volunteer spotters collected GPS coordinates and plant
counts during 2011 PL bloom season
 Mapping Dept produced map
 Bio-control program now underway

21.  Department visibility
 Consistent collection procedures
 One-stop data storage
 Local data sharing
 Regional data sharing
 Enhanced products
 Public Awareness/Engagement