State Wildlife Action Plan Habitats
Go to Section:- Overview
- Data Quality
- Data Organization
- Coordinate System
- Attributes
- Distribution - Get Data
- Metadata Reference
Section 1: Overview
Originator:Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) - Division of Ecological and Water Resources, Nongame Wildlife Program
Title:
State Wildlife Action Plan Habitats
Abstract:
This layer corresponds to the habitat chapters in "Minnesota's Wildlife Action Plan 2025-2035: Conserving Habitats and Biodiversity," including a sub-layer for each of the Plan's 15 main habitat types. The habitat layers were created by combining 6 pre-existing datasets, ranked based on accuracy with the higher-ranking layers covering up the lower-ranking layers where they overlap. The layers, from highest to lowest ranks were as follows: 1) DNR Native Plant Communities, 2) Stream Routes with Strahler Stream Order, 3) Shallow Lakes identified by DNR Wildlife, 4) Lake Basin Morphology, 5) Minnesota National Wetland Inventory, and 6) USFWS Midwest Landscape Initiative's Midwest Terrestrial Habitat System. As it is a compilation of these 6 layers, any inaccuracies inherent to any of the component layers may show up in the final habitat layer.
Purpose:
The purpose of this layer is to provide statewide coverage for Minnesota's habitats for Species in Greatest Conservation Need using the most accurate data where possible. This layer may be used to link Species in Greatest Conservation Need to associated habitats and link habitats to associated threats and actions from the State Wildlife Action Plan.
Time Period of Content Date:
01/02/2026
Currentness Reference:
Time Period of Content Date indicates when dataset was last updated.
Progress:
Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency:
Every 10 years (or sooner if needed)
Spatial Extent of Data:
Statewide
Bounding Coordinates:
-97.23
-89.53
49.37
43.5
Place Keywords:
Minnesota, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4
Theme Keywords:
Minnesota Habitats, SWAP Habitats, Habitat Layer, Wildlife Habitats, Species in Greatest Conservation Need
Theme Keyword Thesaurus:
Access Constraints:
None
Use Constraints:
Use of the data are constrained only by the MNDNR GIS Data License Agreement. See the Distribution Liability section below for a link.
Contact Person Information:
TJ Boettcher,
Conservation Opportunity Area Coordinator
Minnesota DNR - Ecological and Water Resources
805 N Hwy 44/76
Caledonia,
MN
55921
Phone: 507-724-5261
507-724-5261x6981
Email: tj.boettcher@state.mn.us
Section 2: Data Quality
Attribute Accuracy:
Logical Consistency:
Completeness:
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
Lineage:
Section 3: Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
Section 4: Coordinate System
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme:
Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number:
15
Horizontal Datum:
NAD83
Horizontal Units:
meters
Vertical Datum:
Vertical Units:
Depth Datum:
Depth Units:
Section 5: Attributes
Detailed Citation:
Table Detail:
swap_habitats - This attribute table contains many of the attributes from the six component layers of this final layer so that users will have more details about a habitat polygon depending on which component layer it draws from.| Field Name | Valid Values | Definition | Definition Source |
|---|
| SWAPHabitat | enumerated | This field relates each habitat polygon to a specific SWAP habitat. | |
| Lakes | | |
| Rivers and Streams | | |
| Non-forested Wetlands | | |
| Deciduous Wet Forest | | |
| Coniferous Forest Wetland | | |
| Riparian and Floodplain Forest | | |
| Mesic Hardwood Forest | | |
| Upland Deciduous Forests and Woodlands | | |
| Upland Conifer Forest and Woodlands | | |
| Savanna | | |
| Prairie and Other Grasslands | | |
| Cliff, Talus, Rock Outcrop | | |
| Agriculture | | |
| Urban and Other Developed Lands | | |
| Habitat | - | This field relates each habitat polygon to a more specific habitat type that draws from one of the attribute fields from the component layer. | |
| BestSource | - | This field shows which component layer the select habitat polygon is derived from based on the hierarchy of the component layers. For example, if a Native Plant Community polygon and a Minnesota National Wetland Inventory polygon overlapped, the data for the final layer would pull from the Native Plant Community Polygon as it was ranked higher for accuracy than the MN NWI layer. | |
| NPC_Code | - | See metadata link in Overview | NPC |
| NPC_description | - | See metadata link in Overview | NPC |
| system_code | - | See metadata link in Overview | NPC |
| system_description | - | See metadata link in Overview | NPC |
| class_code | - | See metadata link in Overview | NPC |
| class_description | - | See metadata link in Overview | NPC |
| MLI_GP_N | - | This field "translated" data from the Class_Description field of the DNR Native Plant Community dataset to match the Group Names from Midwest Landscape Initiatives Midwest Terrestrial Habitat System using a crosswalk. | Midwest Terrestrial Habitat System |
| DNR_HYDRO_ID | - | See metadata link in Overview | Shallow Lakes |
| DOWLKNUM | - | See metadata link in Overview | Shallow Lakes |
| PW_BASIN_NAME | - | See metadata link in Overview | Shallow Lakes |
| DEPTH_MAX | - | See metadata link in Overview | Shallow Lakes |
| DOWLKNUM_1 | - | See metadata link in Overview | Morphology |
| LAKE_NAME | - | See metadata link in Overview | Morphology |
| LK_AREA | - | See metadata link in Overview | Morphology |
| LK_MAXDEPT | - | See metadata link in Overview | Morphology |
| WETLAND_TYPE | - | See metadata link in Overview | NWI |
| HGM_DESC | - | See metadata link in Overview | NWI |
| SPCC_DESC | - | See metadata link in Overview | NWI |
| CIRC39_CLASS | - | See metadata link in Overview | NWI |
| GroupNam | - | See link in Associated Data Sets | Midwest Terretrial Habitat System |
| Strahler_KITTLE_NBR | - | See metadata link in Overview | Strahler |
| Strahler_KITTLE_NAME | - | See metadata link in Overview | Strahler |
| Strahler_LENGTH_MI | - | See metadata link in Overview | Strahler |
| Strahler_SO_VALUE | - | See metadata link in Overview | Strahler |
| Strahler_Riversize | - | See metadata link in Overview | Strahler |
Section 6: Distribution
Publisher:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Publication Date:
03/26/2026
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
Spatial Data Systems Administrator
Minnesota DNR - GIS
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier:
env_swap_habitats
Ordering Instructions:
Please visit the download page for this dataset on the Minnesota Geospatial Commons website using the web link below (Online Linkage). Online Linkage: I AGREE
to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above. Clicking to agree will either begin the download process, link to a service, or provide more instructions. See "Ordering Instructions" above for details.
Section 7: Metadata Reference
Metadata Date:
03/26/2026
Contact Person Information:
Alison Cariveau,
NR Program Coordinator
Minnesota DNR - Ecological and Water Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5149
Email: alison.cariveau@state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name:
Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version:
1.2
