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.

Use the menu on the right to navigate around the GBIP site. Big changes are coming in the fall of 2004 as we implement new projects for visualizing Great Basin and Columbia Plateau ecology, so please check back often.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:

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).