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. We produced a Decision Support Tool (DST) for our JV region to help achieve this goal, and this dataset is the polygon version of the original raster of the mixed-model of the DST. The raster map was published in the JV Waterbird Habitat Conservation Strategy - 2018 Revision (Figure 13). Starting with a matrix of six relevant objectives, we transformed related biological and social data into a family of six spatially explicit model-based maps designed to achieve individual objectives. Output maps were weighted based on discussion with regional decision makers (JV Management board) and then combined, resulting in a raster dataset, which is an aggregate mixed-model of the DST to target conservation for the benefit of Waterbirds and People in the JV region (mixing biological and social objectives). The raster was finally classified (using geometric intervals) and transformed to polygon dataset (this product) to delineate the zones of conservation and improve data visualization, assessment, and interactivity online. This product comes with 40 relative density classes (zones) spreading on a scale of 0 - 1 (values of low - high). The upper percentiles show the distribution of the most valuable zones across the JV region, to acquire or manage whatever the required conservation action is (i.e., retention, protection, and or restoration). They were mainly prioritized using relative density of breeding and or non-breeding habitats for Waterbirds. They were then ‘customized' by gaining low - high values depending on the relative density of current and potential social demand. Additional customization was achieved by adding relative density of development and agricultural, as a proxy for social need to restore ecological goods and services and Waterbirds need to decrease habitat threats. In summary, these hotspots represent the availability of objective-targeting-areas in high data densities, high objective overlap, and/or high objective weights. We designed a flexible and adaptable analysis framework, so objectives and objective weights can be easily adjusted to address shifts in regional stakeholder priorities and compare outcomes with varied emphasis on biological vs. social values. All of our products (including this one) can be modified accordingly. They can also be scaled-down (i.e., stepped-down to state, watershed, county, or any smaller target area) and supplemented with additional local data such as soil types, current land use, hydrologic aspects, and other environmental priorities for customized output maps depicting best areas for Waterbird habitat restoration vs. retention vs. enhancement. See the JV website and publications for details. Links: To download this polygon feature class 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 polygon feature class 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) AgsJvwWbDstV31_030_030__010_010_010_010_WeightedSum_MxdMdl_022218_Hlshd1StD25____Final = albers_Jv18WbDstMx. (ii) albers_Jv18WbDstMx → albers_Jv18WbDstMx_41GeomsRstr → albers_Jv18WbDstMx_41GeomsRstr_SmplMltiprtPlgn → imported to final GDB and projected on-the-fly to WGS84 → renamed to Jv18WbDstMx. For internal use of USFWS staff: Data Management Plan (DMP) ID = 684; Title: UMGL JV Waterbirds & People Decision Support Tool (Mixed-Model).ArcGIS FeatureLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/d4a14353cef1405796a8c2e4a893db18_0engU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open DataPublicJV Waterbirds & People DST Mix (Zn) [United States]Web servicesUnited StatesLast Modified: 2025-07-24