The majority of south dakota's species of greatest conservation need (sdgfp 2014) are also animal species monitored by the south dakota natural heritage program

The south dakota natural heritage program is a member of natureserve, an international network of biological inventories known as natural heritage programs or conservation data centers that operate in all fifty U.S. States, canada, latin america and the caribbean. An important tool is the south dakota natural heritage database, a system that allows locations and related information on rare species to be entered and shared for environmental review and conservation purposes. Lists of rare, unique or vulnerable plants, animals and biological communities are maintained by each heritage program. Natureserve has developed an environmental review tool (ERT) that can be customized to meet specific hosting heritage program needs (http://WWW.natureserve.ORG/conservation-tools/environmental-review-tool). The ERT uses the drupal content management system and esri's arcgis for server to allow access to data and specific map data layers through a secure web map viewer. Users can explore and query map layers to learn more about rare species and unique natural habitats, fulfill environmental review needs, and view and integrate data on rare species and habitats for conservation planning. The ERT can update content on a daily basis without involving the hosting provider. Arcgis tools allow development and publishing customized and automated project reviews to streamline the environmental review process, reduce state agency workload, and provide efficient output to the public and specific users, such as environmental consulting firms and land use planners at many administrative levels.