Editor’s note—Today’s newsletter is coauthored by Next Interior’s ED, Jacob Malcom, and Beth Ross, Next Interior’s Statistical Advisor, the authors of the tools described here. Like yesterday’s newsletter, today’s is on the long side. Good news: you don’t need to read the whole thing to get the point, but you can read it in full if you’d like! Want to learn more? We're doing a short webinar on 18 November, 4:00-4:30 pm Eastern; sign up here.

What to know

• Interior’s Contributions (beta) is a web app for desktop or tablet (no mobile yet) and library of fact sheets providing basic information and statistics relevant to the US Department of the Interior—lands and waters, science, and serving Tribes.
• Users can select a state or congressional district of interest from the left sidebar to filter and summarize the underlying data. 
• The map shows key places for a user’s selection and the right sidebar shows statistics about Interior-managed lands, economic contributions from national parks, science offices and centers, and offices and schools serving Tribes.
• Short fact sheets for each state and congressional district, which can be shared as pdfs or printed to hand out, can be downloaded from the button at the bottom of the right sidebar.
• There are limitations to the data, which are described in detail below and summarized here.
• A draft “roadmap” identifies refinements and potential additions for future versions. Collaborators or contributors can express interest in involvement here.

Acadia National Park in Maine and Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia. The US Geological Survey’s Upper Midwest Water Science Center in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, or CD. The Bureau of Indian Education’s (and Cherokee Nation’s) Sequoya High School in Oklahoma’s 2nd CD. The Glen Canyon Dam and the National Recreation Area upstream in Arizona’s 9th. The Bureau of Land Management’s King Range National Conservation Area in the California 2nd CD. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s office in Anchorage, Alaska (At-Large CD).

This is just a tiny sampling of the places where the US Department of the Interior contributes to America’s well-being every single day. For our parks, wildlife, and public lands. Water, energy, and other resources. For science and knowledge about our resources. And to fulfill Trust and Treaty obligations to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, as well as special obligations to the territories.

But here’s the thing: the Department is so big and serves so many people and needs and interests, it’s hard to get a handle on what it does in any given area. We can often use an overview of how Interior contributes to our well-being, safety, and prosperity both locally and across America. What if you’re a member of Congress who wants to understand Interior’s work as you consider funding questions? It’s tough to get answers, at least in a timely fashion. An advocate who wants to put their issue of interest into context of Interior’s work? Tough to get answers. Someone who is just curious…you get the point. 

To further our mission to build a strong Interior for current and future generations, Next Interior started pulling together open data into a tool so that anyone—everyone—can see where and how the US Department of the Interior serves the American people. 

Interior’s Contributions (beta) is a web app (for desktops and tablets) and library of fact sheets providing basic information and statistics relevant to the US Department of the Interior, available by state and congressional district (CD). This includes information about the lands managed by Interior and its bureaus; the economic contributions from our national parks and public lands (as available); and key offices and resources that people depend on, such as dams and Bureau of Indian Education schools. Users can select states or CDs to get tailored statistics, click on map features to get basic information about features, and download brief fact sheets for ready printing and sharing. 

Here, we first give some guidance on usage, then illustrate a few examples drawn from the app. Next, we discuss the roadmap for further development and offer a call for collaborators. Last, for those who like to get into the details, we describe what we did to make the tools—the methods—and discuss the limitations of the tools at greater length.