This project will design and deploy a public-facing and internal dashboard that maps and summarizes all forest management activities on state parks and forestry-owned lands, including silviculture prescriptions, acreage treated, locations, approvals and permits, status, and completion dates, incorporating historical records as far back as available. We will publish 100% of known projects to date, post all new projects within 30 days of approval, improve completeness and accuracy, reduce manual data reconciliation, and meet accessibility measures. The approach leverages existing DEP GIS platforms with a standardized data model, a phased rollout from prototype to dashboard, and cross-bureau collaboration. A working prototype/draft will be up by the end of March, with historical backfill.

NJ Forest Service mission and landscape-scale management priorities
• NJDEP transparency and open data directives; existing DEP Open Data Portal practices.
• OPRA/records-request volumes and response-time logs showing significant staff effort for project-location, prescription, and permit details.
• Disparate legacy datasets (spreadsheets, PDFs, shapefiles) with data gaps and inconsistent metadata.
• Grant and reporting requirements (e.g., USFS-funded activities) that require timely, spatially explicit reporting
• Internal QA findings noting risks of data loss and inconsistent project tracking

Program desire