Basic Inventory

Basic Inventory

The first step in an NRI is to collect and map readily available natural resources information to get an initial picture of the community’s natural resources. All of the information required for the Basic Inventory is already available through GRANIT, GRANITView and the NH Wetlands Mapper.

The purpose of the Basic Inventory is to give an initial visual overview of a community’s natural resources and is what every community should have in their NRI, at the minimum. It provides a basis for assessing the current status of natural resources in the study area and helps set goals for future steps in the inventory process. This can help the work group refine their focus, identify information gaps, and prioritize next steps. The Basic Inventory uses existing, publicly available information and does not require additional data collection. The Basic Inventory includes maps and documentation of data in a narrative report,

The list of Suggested Basic Inventory Components and associated NRI maps is provided below. Refer to the NRI Components section for discussion about the data behind the maps.

Sample NRI Maps provides examples of the Basic Inventory Maps.  Communities may wish to add additional maps, or display data in different combinations than show in the sample maps. To learn more about what the narrative report looks like, refer to examples of completed community NRI's.

List of Suggested Basic Inventory Components

The Basic Inventory maps and accompanying narrative report can be put to immediate use by town boards making decisions that impact natural resources. The Basic NRI provides the building blocks for putting together a Conservation Plan. By taking these maps to community events, communities have the opportunity for both for public education and to solicit additional input from the community.