2024 SAG Award Winners

Pennsylvania Game Commission

View Photo(s) of Award Presentation

Project Goal

The goal of the Pennsylvania Game Commission GIS Services Division is to holistically integrate our enterprise GIS among our many program areas. We accomplish this by stewarding the geospatial data, software, and hardware resources for the agency; providing exceptional and high-quality geospatial services and training for PGC staff and collaborative partners to help manage and protect wildlife and habitat; and being a leader in the innovative implementation of GIS and geospatial technologies among the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and peer institutions across the nation and world.
Learn more about us
Learn more about our application: Site 1 | Site 2

Business Problem Solved

The most essential business problems we have are collecting field data and sharing data internally and with external partners. To solve these problems, we have complete multiple activities to use our GIS to it’s full potential. First, we centralized all our geospatial data into enterprise geodatabases. We have also deployed over 70 mobile devices to habitat maintenance crews to collect infrastructure and other data on State Game Lands. We also use ArcGIS Hub Premium to promote statewide volunteer data collection initiatives. For example, tracking Peregrine Falcon nesting and PA Bird Atlas block signup management uses ArcGIS Hub to manage users who can participate to help keep data secure. We also have created numerous data visualizations using ArcGIS Dashboards and ArcGIS Insights for decision making and visualization, for example our new Historic Harvest Dashboards.

Technology Implemented

ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Dashboards, ArcGIS Insights, ArcGIS Field Maps, ArcGIS Survey123, ArcGIS Experience Builder

Development Team Biography

• James Whitacre is the Chief of the GIS Services Division at the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
• Daniel Jones is the GIS Applications Developer for the GIS Services Division at the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
• Eric Castonguay is the Geospatial Analyst for the GIS Services Division at the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
• Thomas Makibbin was the GIS Administrator (recently retired) for the GIS Services Division at the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
• Emily Clees, Jeremy Diehl, Joshua Lewis, Chris Shivock, Bryce Stouffer, Kurt Weiser are the Regional Geospatial Specialists.