Improving access to regional conservation assessments through an online encyclopedia

Landscape and watershed-scale conservation assessments provide a foundational understanding of the Salish Sea ecosystem and are important tools for environmental protection and restoration. In recent years, many assessments have been created within the Puget Sound watershed, but there is currently no comprehensive source of information compiling or describing these efforts. In many cases, this information is widely scattered across the Web or is simply not available online. This presentation will describe how the University of Washington Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, in collaboration with the Puget Sound Partnership and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is creating an online compendium with summaries of the region's conservation assessments. The Encyclopedia of Puget Sound (www.eopugetsound.org) is a new resource funded by the Environmental Protection Agency that fosters collaboration and information synthesis related to Salish Sea ecosystem science. The Encyclopedia will provide a searchable and dynamic index along with project descriptions and background about what conservation assessments are and how they can be used. In cases where researchers and agencies want to share GIS data, the Encyclopedia will feature dynamic online maps, allowing for crosscutting comparison and analysis of projects. This resource will be useful to planners, researchers and stakeholders throughout the region.