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EMAP Hexagon Coverage Included in South Dakota’s Sportsman’s Atlas

VICKIE J. SMITH, CHAD J. KOPPLIN, AND JONATHAN A. JENKS
Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings

Throughout the South Dakota Gap Analysis Project (SD-GAP), we
have been working with state agencies to provide opportunities for
outreach. Because of a lack of locational data for vertebrates in
South Dakota, small mammals were sampled throughout the state
during the summer of 1998 based on the EMAP hexagon grid. Two
sites were sampled within each hexagon to obtain presence or ab-
sence information for small mammals in that particular hexagon.
To coordinate the trapping effort, an ARC/INFO Macro Language
(AML) program was created to build county-based maps contain-
ing all county roads (primary roads were separated from secondary
roads) and the hexagonal grid, including the hexagon number for
reference. Towns could easily be identified from concentrations of
roads.

In an effort to maintain locational databases of various terrestrial
vertebrate species, SD-GAP and the South Dakota Department of
Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P) have agreed to include the EMAP
hexagonal grid in the next printing of the Sportsman’s Atlas (Fig-
ure 1). This atlas is a guide to recreational public lands, including
Waterfowl Production Areas (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service own-
ership), Game Production Areas (South Dakota GF&P ownership),
State Parks and Recreation Areas, Federal Recreation Areas, and
Water Access Areas (federal- and state-owned). The atlas is a
county-based guide, covering the entire state. Nearly 1,000 copies
of the atlas could be produced specifically for managers. Atlases
are printed as needed and can be purchased through South Dakota
GF&P in Pierre, South Dakota.

The EMAP hexagonal grid will allow managers to report observed
species to the SD-GAP office by hexagon number, reducing the
amount of time needed to add new sightings to the locational data-
base. This atlas will provide a cost-effective, efficient method for
gathering information on vertebrate locations, increase awareness
of the public about GAP, and solicit participation in the upkeep of
the distributional database for future modeling and distribution
mapping efforts.

Figure 1. Sportsman’s Atlas view of Deuel County in eastern South
Dakota containing primary and secondary roads, hexagon boundaries,
and state and federally owned lands.

For more information about the AML used to create the county-
based hexagonal maps, please contact Vickie Smith at the SD-GAP
office at (605) 688-5124 or by e-mail at vickie_smith@sdstate.edu.
The AML may be downloaded from our FTP site at wfs.sdstate.edu.
When you obtain the AML, feel free to make changes to the pro-
gram to fit your state and your purposes. After making changes,
please send updates to chad_kopplin@sdstate.edu.