With the expanding role and use of the Internet, there has also been work conducted in several areas to display, query, and analyze geo-spatial data via the Internet rather than through the more traditional GIS ( Geographic Information System). While in its infancy, the next frontier in this area of information management is geo-spatial inventory and monitoring data entry via the Internet. The ability to enter, display, query, and analyze geo-spatial data via the Internet is commonly referred to as Web-based GIS (webGIS).

While other public agencies have done much work in the webGIS arena ( Kearns , F.R., Kelly, M., and Tuxen, K.A. 2003. Everything happens somewhere: using webGIS as a tool for sustainable natural resource management. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1(10): 541-548) at diverse scales and for myriad purposes, US Forest Service has only used web-based GIS on a very limited basis. There has been no corporate determination of where the agency can or should go with this technology and the barriers on how to get there. This proposal attempts to address those issues.

The objective is to conduct an evaluation to:

• Assess the status of the use and application of webGIS in the Forest Service. li>Identify the potential use and application of webGIS, including use by other agencies and the public.
• Identify the barriers to expanded use of webGIS by the USFS, including technical and institutional barriers.