Methodology
Imagery that documents what's worth protecting.
Continuous 360° capture builds the baseline a land-protection case rests on — the recreation and buffer lands a REPI/RARI easement would keep open. Every figure below comes from a transparent rate model applied to a per-installation asset inventory.
The documentation layer is a fraction of one year's REPI appropriation (~$178M/yr) and a rounding error against the easement and acquisition dollars it supports. See funding.
Rate model
The documentation budget, per corridor.
Both-bank river capture
Boat-mounted multi-camera 360° rig captures equirectangular panoramas at fixed intervals along both banks of each navigable reach. Each river-mile is priced as a complete unit including processing and year-one hosting.
Trail-mile capture
Backpack rig for hiking; UTV/OHV mount for motorized multi-use. Trail surface and access regime determine the rig - the per-mile price stays consistent.
Public access-site nodes
Fixed 360° captures at boat ramps, interpretive centers, and trailheads. Anchored to existing NPS / state-park / BLM signage where present.
Mobilization & logistics
Crew travel, boat/vehicle transport, and per-site logistics - billed as a flat percentage of capture so it remains transparent and reproducible per corridor.
Interactive 360 web map (per base)
Hosted interactive portal with Mapbox base layer, type-colored asset markers, pan-and-explore imagery, and mobile + desktop UX. One per installation.
Program-wide master portal
One unifying entry point at lewisclarkcorridors.org linking all twelve corridors with a national map and shared methodology.
Standards alignment
Methodology aligned to federal recreation and conservation practice.
NPS imagery standards
Resolution, GPS-tag fidelity, and metadata fields aligned with NPS interpretive media practice for reuse in trail-office content.
RAPG (Recreation Asset Planning Grant) criteria
Asset typology and access-classification match common state recreation grant frameworks.
USDA NRCS conservation imagery
Optional add-on capture aligned to USDA NRCS protocols supports invasive-species and erosion monitoring layers.
Federal frameworks
Four frameworks, one corridor.
Corridor conservation doesn't live inside a single federal grant program; it sits at the intersection of four. The methodology is designed so the same capture serves all of them.
REPI POA
Existing buffer partnerships frame every corridor.
All twelve installations already run REPI programs. These corridors fall inside or directly adjacent to existing Partnership Opportunity Areas, so the partner network, the legal authorities, and the conservation footprint are already in place.
RARI eligibility
Recreation grants designed for these exact geographies.
RARI funds recreation projects inside REPI POAs or Sentinel Landscapes. Because REPI can satisfy the 50% match, individual corridor projects can reach 100% federal funding.
Sentinel Landscape designation
Two corridors designated. The rest are candidates.
JBLM and NSA Crane (via Southern Indiana SL) already sit inside designated landscapes. The Lower Missouri, Upper Missouri, and Snake River Plain clusters are strong nominees for new designations, and the corridor record strengthens a nomination.
LCNHT alignment
The connective frame across all twelve corridors.
The National Park Service Lewis & Clark NHT Office administers the historic-trail layer that ties the program together. Every capture is keyed to LCNHT-Direct or LCNHT-Near classifications and produces interpretive content reusable in Trail Office outreach.
Replicable
Designed to replicate across every National Historic Trail.
Every corridor uses the same rate model, the same capture rigs, the same hosted portal template, and the same dataset deliverable format. Adding an eighth installation requires only a new asset inventory; adding a thirtieth requires only crew time.