Geomorphic Road Assessment and Inventory Package (GRAIP) GRAIP is a process and a set of tools for analyzing the impacts of roads on forested watersheds. GRAIP combines a road inventory with a powerful GIS analysis tool set to predict sediment production and delivery, mass wasting risk from gullies and landslides, stream diversion potential, culvert maintenance, and fish passage at stream crossings. The road inventory protocol describes how to systematically field inventory a road system using GPS and automated data forms. Once downloaded, these data can be immediately run through a data quality checking and correction program. Quality checked data can then be analyzed in a program implemented in ArcGIS. The program produces maps of surface erosion, accumulated road sediment in streams, and contributing length by segment, which relates directly to slope stability and gullying risks. Other analyses relating to stream diversion potential, stream crossing failure, culvert maintenance needs, and fish passage are also provided with the program. Why use GRAIP? | What is GRAIP? | How does GRAIP work? | Who Supports and Uses GRAIP? | Where can I learn more about GRAIP? | When is Training Available?

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Why use GRAIP?

Roads have been shown to alter the hydrologic and geomorphic response of watersheds and can impact aquatic ecosystems and degrade water quality. GRAIP can be applied at a variety of spatial scales, but is well suited to capture the multiple effects of roads at a sub-watershed scale to identify the most critical restoration opportunities.

What is GRAIP?

GRAIP is the Geomorphic Roads Analysis and Inventory Package. It is a simple and free road inventory and modeling tool designed to quantify road impacts on streams and to help land managers efficiently evaluate the multiple aspects of risk created by forest roads.

How does GRAIP work?

GRAIP uses a detailed GPS based road inventory to inform fine sediment erosion, shallow landslide and gully modeling tools that run in ArcGIS. The inventory provides information on stream crossing failure and stream diversion risks, information on the amount of road connected to the stream and a census of the road infrastructure and condition. Field crews collect about 2 miles of GRAIP inventory data a day depending on the landscape and access conditions.

Who Supports and Uses GRAIP?

GRAIP is a collaborative Joint venture between the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station and Utah State University. RMRS staff supports GRAIP from the Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab. GRAIP has an active user community that includes partners inside and outside of public land management and regulatory agencies, including: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Nature Conservancy, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Southwest Crown of the Continent Collaborative, Coos Watershed Association, Idaho Forest Restoration Partnership, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Wilderness Society, and the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative.

Where can I learn more about GRAIP?

Detailed GRAIP data, manuals, and reports are available for selected watersheds in the Western U.S.

When is Training Available?

RMRS staff provide training each year and as needed. Check the training page for information of upcoming trainings that conduct field practice in the Boise area. Contact Tom Black with any questions.