Layers of Protection: Using GIS for Environmental Oversight

Join Wild Virginia on July 31st at 7pm to hear about the work of the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA). ABRA's Conservation Hub program promotes responsible resource management by providing access to critical information needed for effective public involvement in environmental review and oversight.

The Hub uses GIS mapping to provide details and context for land development projects and management practices that involve risk of environmental harm, as well as for environmental preservation and restoration initiatives. The Conservation Hub also provides access to regulatory documents and assessments related to specific projects or issues.

In the Hub you can find lots of different layers, including land applications of biosolids, solar development, and endangered species information!

Going forward, ABRA invites conservation groups, individuals, and communities to provide ideas for new Hub sites and GIS mapping that can contribute to informed public engagement on behalf of environmental integrity, so it's important you're aware of the hub!

Help protect the environment! Register for this important webinar TODAY!

Dan Shaffer, ABRA's Executive Director and GIS Program Manager will describe how the Conservation Hub is currently helping advocates address problems and threats from a major highway project (Corridor H), land application of sewage sludge in Virginia, and management National Forests in VA and WV

Dan Shaffer is ABRA's Executive Director and GIS Program Manager. He served as ABRA’s Geographic Information Systems consultant for 9 years and was the principal architect of ABRA’s Compliance Surveillance Initiative (CSI) mapping system, focused on the (cancelled) Atlantic Coast Pipeline. He has been responsible for the technical aspects of ABRA’s Conservation Hub. He has 25 years of experience using GIS to solve environmental, development, and infrastructure problems, and has extensive project management experience. He assumed his dual-role with ABRA in August of 2024.

Our summer fundraiser ends July 31st! Help us reach our goal!