Wyoming Natural Diversity Database

Mission

The Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD) is a member of a network of similar programs collectively known as the Natural Heritage Network. Each of the 50 US states, most Canadian provinces, and many Latin American countries house a network program dedicated to gathering and developing biological information on species of conservation concern and natural vegetation communities. Programs in the network use the same database methodology and software and receive technical support from a coordinating organization known as NatureServe. Most programs are housed in universities or state agencies; WYNDD operates as a service and research unit of the University of Wyoming.

WYNDD data, analyses, and staff expertise contribute to effective strategies of natural resource management and more efficient compliance with environmental regulations.

WYNDD offers the most complete source of data for species and vegetation communities of conservation concern in Wyoming. Our mission is threefold:

• Identify and rank species that are priorities for conservation effort in Wyoming.

• Amass existing data and develop new data for species needing conservation effort and for Wyoming vegetation types.

• Distribute these data upon request under the philosophy that the best decisions regarding natural resources will be made only when everyone has access to complete and current scientific data.

Database

WYNDD's full time staff is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive data for Wyoming's plants, animals, and vegetation communities of conservation concern. In addition to generating critical new project-based data each year through field surveys, state-wide monitoring and diverse research. Our staff biologists and data management specialists consolidate existing data from a wide variety of sources such as herbaria, museum collections, resource management agencies published and unpublished reports, consultant datasets and reports, and observations by agency and academic biologists as well as knowledgeable individuals. Our efforts are focused in three separate disciplinary research programs: vegetation ecology, zoology, and botany. See the Links menu on the left for more information on the individual programs on the WYNDD Webpage.

History

In the 1970's, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) began to build a state-by-state network of programs (generically referred to as "state natural heritage programs") dedicated to developing credible, objective information on vegetation types and rare species in North America. Each program was to employ professional biologists familiar with the biota of their state, and was to use a common methodology to evaluate, store, and disseminate biological data. Once a program became well established, TNC would turn over direction of the program to the state government.

The Wyoming program, known originally as the "Wyoming Natural Heritage Program", was established in 1979 and was housed in the offices of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The program was later renamed the "Wyoming Natural Diversity Database" and relocated to the Botany Department at the University of Wyoming, but it remained under the direction of TNC.

Through legislative action, WYNDD became a research and service unit of the University of Wyoming, under the direction of the Vice President for Research, on 1 July 1998.

To ensure that it remains part of a coordinated network of state programs, WYNDD stays in constant communication and consultation with similar programs in other states and regions.