2026 Big Sky GeoCon - From Data to Design: Full Schedule

The Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals (MAGIP) looks forward to your participation at this year’s 2026 Big Sky GeoCon!

3:10pm MDT

Design, Data, and Construction: The Use of Geospatial Tools in Stream Restoration

Wednesday April 15, 2026 3:10pm - 3:40pm MDT

East Divide Room

Geospatial tools play a crucial role in modern stream restoration by supporting accurate assessment, design, construction, and monitoring. This presentation highlights the integrated use of UAS, surveying, LiDAR, GPS enabled equipment, and GIS to collect, analyze, and implement high-resolution spatial data for stream and floodplain restoration. These technologies improve design efficiency, reduce time/cost, and support informed decision-making throughout the restoration project, from initial assessment through post-construction monitoring.

Presenters

Tanner Tompkins

GIS/Land Resources Specialist, Kroenke Ranches

Tanner Tompkins is a GIS/Land Resource Specialist and UAS Remote Pilot who specializes in stream restoration work and implementing GIS in large scale agriculture and ranch operations. He was raised in the Flathead Valley and now splits his time between Bozeman, Whitefish, and Augusta... Read More →

Wednesday April 15, 2026 3:10pm - 3:40pm MDT
East Divide Room

Conservation/Natural Resources

3:45pm MDT

Utilization of Field and Remote Sensing Data to Design the Piedmont Wetland Restoration Project

Wednesday April 15, 2026 3:45pm - 4:15pm MDT

East Divide Room

SWCA Environmental Consultants (formerly River Design Group) was retained by MT Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Jefferson Local Development Corporation to design a wetland restoration project at the Piedmont Wetlands south of Whitehall, Montana. Data collection for wetland restoration design development included pond bathymetry, topography, vegetation, wetland delineation and wetland functional assessment. Field data were used for the basis of restoration design, and the supporting GIS analysis included LiDAR surface analysis and clarification of historical alterations to the system. Spatial and 3D analysis as well as conceptual design drafting were completed in the ArcGIS Pro platform.

Presenters

Selita Ammondt

SWCA Environmental Consultants

Selita is a Senior Project Manager and Restoration Ecologist with 20 years of experience in river and wetland restoration. She designs wetland restoration projects, develops floodplain and vegetation restoration plans, and prepares federal and state permitting documents. Selita is... Read More →

Wednesday April 15, 2026 3:45pm - 4:15pm MDT
East Divide Room

Conservation/Natural Resources

4:20pm MDT

Modernizing Forest Inventory on Montana’s Trust Lands through LiDAR and Timber Cruise Data Integration

Wednesday April 15, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm MDT

Alpine Room

Since the 1980s, the Montana DNRC’s Stand Level Inventory (SLI) has supported forest management on Trust Lands through walkthrough-based field assessments of stand conditions. While foundational, this method presented challenges in data consistency, repeatability, and maintenance. Leveraging recent statewide LiDAR acquisition, DNRC developed the Remote Forest Inventory (RFI), integrating timber cruise data with LiDAR to produce spatially continuous, landscape-scale forest metrics. This presentation highlights DNRC’s application of GIS and remote sensing in developing the RFI, a modernization effort that transformed legacy inventory methods into a precise, efficient, and scalable framework for forest data management.

Presenters

Anna Moser

Remote Sensing Analyst, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation

Anna Moser is a Remote Sensing Analyst with the Forest Management Bureau of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. She develops and maintains forest and vegetation inventory sampling frameworks for Montana’s State Trust Lands. Her professional interests include... Read More →

Clay Stephenson

MT DNRC

Clay Stephenson is the Forestry Section Supervisor for the Forest Management Bureau of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. He and his team maintain the DNRC’s silviculture, forest mensuration, and sustained yield calculation programs. His professional interests... Read More →

Wednesday April 15, 2026 4:20pm - 4:50pm MDT
Alpine Room

Conservation/Natural Resources

11:05am MDT

For Whom? Parcel-Level Spatial Accessibility to Hazardous Fuels Reduction

Thursday April 16, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am MDT

Alpine Room

Federal wildfire fuel reduction projects lack systematic methods for identifying affected populations. The Wildfire Adapted Missoula project authorizes hazardous fuels treatments without environmental justice analysis despite federal mandates. This study develops a parcel-level, terrain-aware distance decay framework to identify affected populations based on spatial accessibility. Using the Blue Mountain treatment area, three distance metrics are compared: Euclidean (baseline planar distance), topographic (slope-adjusted), and fire transmission (cost-distance accounting for terrain and fuel conditions that constrain fire spread). Results inform environmental justice screening where spatial equity assessment remains absent from federal wildfire decision-making.

Presenters

Patrick Benson

Carbon County

Patrick Benson is the GIS Coordinator for Carbon County in Red Lodge, MT. He recently graduated from the University of Montana with a Masters of Science in Geography. His background as a Forestry Technician for the U.S. Forest Service took him to the often overlooked yet beautiful... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 11:05am - 11:35am MDT
Alpine Room

Conservation/Natural Resources, Emergency Services

11:40am MDT

DNRC Upper Yellowstone Structure Survey & GIS Methodologies

Thursday April 16, 2026 11:40am - Wednesday April 15, 2026 12:10pm MDT

Alpine Room

This presentation will focus on the GIS methods and challenges involved in structure surveying and inventory in the Yellowstone River Basin for Montana DNRC for the purpose of updating regulatory floodplain maps and how our GIS team utilized ArcGIS Field Maps to deploy structure and data forms for field crews to reference and collect data in the field. GIS field solutions proved themselves invaluable for daily and long-range planning for this project. Data collected was delivered in FEMA complaint databases comprised of structure location, information, and dimensions for 482 structures and 1446 bathymetric cross sections on 641 miles of river.

Presenters

Matt Blassic

Great West Engineering

Matt Blassic is a GIS Analyst with Great West Engineering. Matt works in Great West's Natural Resource Group, and has working on floodplain mapping projects for upwards of 6 years. Matt provides in depth knowledge of regulatory and drafting FEMA databases and spatial products for... Read More →

Hannah Nishek

Great West Engineering

Hannah Nishek: Hannah Nishek is a GIS Specialist with six years of experience in spatial data management at various project scales in the private and public sector. Hannah is skilled in custom web-based app development and interactive tools to aid in data-driven decision making, gather... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 11:40am - Wednesday April 15, 2026 12:10pm MDT
Alpine Room

Conservation/Natural Resources, Government

3:10pm MDT

3:45pm MDT

4:20pm MDT

11:05am MDT

11:40am MDT

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