In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, recovery and rebuilding efforts focused on resilience and diversified infrastructure that included consideration of the benefits that healthy ecosystems provide. County governments on Long Island identified a need for tools to map coastal and estuarine areas that may provide ecosystem services. Current methods of ecosystem service mapping often rely on complicated statistical models, labor-intensive site validation, or proprietary data. We examined a method of fast ecosystem services mapping that relies on publicly-available data, includes stakeholder input, and uses ArcGIS software that is ubiquitous in municipal planning. This chapter provides an example of ecosystem service mapping that generates easily explained visualizations suitable for non-scientific audiences with tools already available to municipal planning departments. We explain how to define indicators of benefit presence, obtain data, and create maps using examples from a collaboration with Nassau County, Long Island, New York.
