There is a need to integrate existing data collection initiatives within geographic regions, such as the Pacific Northwest, and to minimize the duplication of efforts and maximize the usefulness of the data. Integrating existing data and data collection initiatives to create spatially explicit data layers at different levels of resolution will fall short if the public and their multitude of projects are not included.

NatureMapping is a program that endorses community based environmental protection by facilitating the exchange of information between natural resource agencies, academia, land-use planners, local communities, and schools through public education and participation in data acquisition. NatureMapping has 50,000 people involved in Washington State and 16 other states who have begun or are interested in beginning the program.

NatureMapping believes that lower quality, but large quantity datasets are equally as important as high quality, but low quantity datasets. "Low quality" does not mean the quality if bad, but there is less information collected. For example, a researcher may collect weight, sex and band a bird, where a NatureMapper may only collect the date observed and the location. The information complements the researchers data. Therefore, the NatureMapping Program provides the opportunity to identify scale dependent biodiversity indicators by using an army of trained volunteers.

For example, detailed and expensive water sampling occurs at a few sites along a river. Would the same amount of sampling be needed to identify the biological health of the river if 1,000 people could collect data at the same time along the river? Would the observations of 50,000 people recording wildlife at the same time on the same day, produce a map that is less important than monitoring wildlife at a specific habitat during breeding season? The answers are no. The high volume datasets would provide valuable maps, at a different scale.

The creation of coarse scale public datasets across the nation are now possible.