U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceDefinition This indicator identifies the ability of terrestrial species to move across the landscape within the Midwest. It prioritizes areas based on relative ease of movement for terrestrial species, factoring in NLCD landcover classes, slope, proximity to water, and habitat core score. Pixels can take the following values: 1 - Most costly (1,755-11,199) 2 - More costly (443-1,754) 3 - Average cost (237-442) 4 - Less costly (112-236) 5 - Least costly (0-111) Selection This indicator was chosen as a targetable, important feature of the MLI goals that will be used to track conditions over time and prioritize areas for conservation. Indicators were defined through elicitation and prioritization exercises with federal and state participants. Criteria for the indicators includes 1) actionable, 2) measurable, 3) relevant to multiple groups across the region, and/or 4) representative of other social and/or environmental values. Input Data & Mapping Steps This indicator originates from the Esri Green Infrastructure Habitat Cost Surface layer. To create this layer, MLI partners, members, and staff completed the following mapping steps: projected all input data to NAD83 (2011) UTM Zone 15N, mosaicked all state-level rasters into a single regional raster, and reclassified the raster into the following values: 1 - Most costly (1,755-11,199), 2 - More costly (443-1,754), 3 - Average cost (237-442), 4 - Less costly (112-236), 5 - Least costly (0-111). Finally, highly altered areas were removed using our Highly Altered Areas mask. For full mapping details, please refer to the Midwest Conservation Blueprint Development Process . For a complete download of all Blueprint input and output data, visit the Midwest Conservation Blueprint 2026 Data Download.ArcGIS ImageMapLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/c2518c284c4b4c12ac94a7c3412e237bengU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open DataPublicTerrestrial Habitat Connectivity (Midwest Conservation Blueprint 2026 Indicator) [United States]Web servicesUnited States2026