History of NatureMapping

NatureMapping was developed at Washington State University as an outgrowth of the Project WILD (link to AR Project Wild) program.  In the spirit of Project WILD, NatureMapping provides participants with tools to investigate their landscape.  NatureMapping teaches the ”how” of the Project WILD mission to help learners “how to think, not what to think.”

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Project WILD Program and the University of Washington’s GAP Analysis Program provided the framework used to develop the Arkansas NatureMapping Program.

In 2001, the Arkansas Forest Resources Center funded a grant to the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service for assessing interest and coordinating pilot efforts for conducting NatureMapping in Arkansas.  The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Southshore Foundation, and the U.S. Forest Service have funded pilot efforts for this program.