U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceJoint Ventures (JVs) are bird conservation partnerships, established to achieve the goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). There are 22 bird habitat JVs in North America, and our JV, the Upper Mississippi/Great Lakes Region Joint Venture (UMGL JV) is located in the Midwest, in a pivotal location in the Mississippi Flyway , for people involved in migratory bird conservation. We are a collaborative, regional group of government agencies, tribes, nonprofit organizations, corporations, universities, and individuals that conserve habitat for the benefit of migratory birds, other wildlife, and people. Our landscape includes eastern Minnesota; all of Wisconsin and Michigan; eastern Nebraska and Kansas; western, southern and eastern Iowa; northern Missouri, Illinois and Indiana; and northwestern Ohio. Targeting conservation to achieve biological objectives for Waterbirds and social objectives for People is a priority for JVs. Supporting waterbird-wattchers while conserving habitat for waterbirds is a social objective at the UMGL JV. We produced a spatial model (this raster dataset) of the distribution and relative density of waterbird viewing activities in the JV region and surrounding areas to help achieve this objective. We published its map in the JV Waterbird Habitat Conservation Strategy - 2018 Revision (Figure 11A). In this model, we used eBird data for JV's breeding and non-breeding focal species (2007-2016; see Table 1 in 2018 JV Waterbird Strategic Plan). GPS locations and frequency of waterbird observation records were used to depict high and low density neighborhoods (hotspots and coldspots) based on a kernel density analysis. Finally, we converted kernel density raster dataset to TIFF format (this product) to improve data visualization, assessment, and interactivity online. This raster showed the distribution and relative density (scale of 0 - 1; values of low - high) of the most valuable areas (pixel neighborhoods) across the JV region, to acquire or manage whatever the required action at the local scale is (i.e., retention, protection, and or restoration). Aggregate-priority-areas were predicted to produce the most value for the decision makers. These hotspots were mainly prioritized using relative density of waterbird-watching activities. Areas other than the hotspots represents lower waterbird-watching records. For more details, please see the 2018 JV Waterbird Habitat Conservation Strategy. We designed a flexible and adaptable analysis framework, and all objective-oriented models (including this one) can be scaled-down (i.e., stepped-down to state, watershed, county, or any smaller target area) and supplemented with additional local data for customized output maps depicting best areas for waterbird habitat restoration vs. retention vs. enhancement for the benefits of waterbirds and people. See the JV website and publications for details. Links: On hold / contact us : To download this TIFF dataset and related data, metadata, and documentation, please browse the UMGL JV online folder in the U.S. Geological Survey's ScienceBase repository . To view and explore this TIFF dataset and related data, please visit the online experience of the UMGL JV Decision Support Tools . References: Model codes and final steps (for internal use of UMGLJV staff): (i) AgsJvwEbd0716FclWBbreedYsNo_WghtNoKd1kmAutoR_01FzyLn_Hlshd1StD25Gm15 = albers_Jv18WbWatch. (ii) albers_Jv18WbWatch → converted to TIFF and projected on-the-fly to WGS84 → renamed to Jv18WbWatch_R. For internal use of USFWS staff: Data Management Plan (DMP) ID = 733; Title: UMGL JV - Conservation Associated with Waterbird Watching.ArcGIS ImageMapLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/42ff174f3364463f9e97e13007b5019dengU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open DataPublicJV Waterbird Watching (Pxl) [United States]Web servicesUnited StatesLast Modified: 2026-02-11