Welcome to the National Biological Information Infrastructure Great Basin Information Project (GBIP). This information project provides consolidated and efficient access to information about the Great Basin and the Columbia Plateau Regions. The unique biodiversity found in the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau faces potential devastating and irreversible change as a result of land uses and growth of human populations in these regions.

A wide variety of individuals and agencies use and/or manage the region. Some of the realized and potential changes are tied to individual or local decisions without a regional or cumulative understanding of the consequences. Effective management of the natural resources in areas as complex as these requires ready access to information so that everyone can efficiently work together.

The Great Basin Information Project has a variety of tools and information to educate and assist in decision-making. Among these are an interactive mapper for viewing geographic data in the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau, a Bibliography to access published materials about these regions, and an Image Catalog with photos of research and resources.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHT:

Vegetation mapping in the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau, conducted by scientists at the USGS's Snake River Field Station, has resulted in hundreds of photographs of shrubsteppe and associated ecosystems. Please take the photographic tour if you would like to see the image archive, (opens in a new window).

USGS Shrub-steppe landscape in south- eastern Idaho; October 2003.

USGS Newark Valley, in east-central Nevada; Summer 2003.