The Northwest
Regional Gap Analysis Project (NWGAP) is an update of the Gap
Analysis Program's mapping and assessment of biodiversity for the
five-state region encompassing Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana,
and Wyoming. It is a multi-institutional cooperative effort
coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey Gap Analysis Program. The
primary objective of the update is to use a coordinated mapping
approach to create detailed, seamless GIS maps of land cover, all
native terrestrial vertebrate species, land stewardship, and
management status, and to analyze this information to identify those
biotic elements that are underrepresented on lands managed for their
long term conservation, in other words, "gaps". This
project began in September 2004.