If you cannot find the answer to your question in the instructions below, please contact us using one of the following email addresses:

mce.dnr@state.mn.us - For questions or troubleshooting regarding Minnesota Conservation Explorer
Review.NHIS@state.mn.us - For questions regarding Natural Heritage Review, including status inquiries
Training.NHIS@state.mn.us - For questions regarding the NHIS Rare Features Data or training materials

Instructions by Topic

Jump to section:

HOME PAGE

MY ACCOUNT

EXPLORE PAGE

LICENSED DATA

MY PROJECTS PAGE

SPECIFIC PROJECT PAGE

TROUBLESHOOTING

HOME PAGE

Create Your Account & Sign In:

In the User Login box, click ‘Create new account’
Enter your email address, first name, last name, and phone number
Read the Terms and Conditions of Use, and click ‘Accept’
Click on ‘Create new account’
A verification email will be sent to you from mce.dnr@state.mn.us (Tip: Check your spam/junk folder). Click on the activation link in that email and then set your password within 24 hours. Enter a password and then click ‘Save’.
Select your organization from the list and click ‘Save’
- If your organization is not in the list, click ‘Create New Organization’. Enter Organization Title, Organization Type, Address, City, State, Zip. Enter an Invoice Email only if you have a separate central billing office that should also receive a copy of any invoices for billable services (do not re-enter your email here unless you want to receive all invoices associated with your organization). Click ‘Save’.
You have successfully registered your account!

How Do I Log In?:

In the User Login box, enter your email or username
Next, enter your password
- If you have forgotten your password, click on 'Request new password' and follow the directions
Click on ‘Log in’

MY ACCOUNT

How to Change your Password:

Login to MCE
Click 'MY ACCOUNT' in the upper right corner
Click the 'Edit' tab
Enter your current password in the 'Current password' box
Type your new password in the 'Password' box and 'Confirm password' box
Scroll to the bottom and check the box next to 'Accept Terms and Conditions of Use' (if not already checked)
Click 'Save'

My Organization:

Important: Please connect to an organization. Your registration is not complete until you connect to an organization - incomplete registration may cause delays in service. Users will not be able to request Natural Heritage Reviews if their registration is incomplete.

When registering, select your organization from the list and click ‘Save’
- If your organization is not in the list, click ‘Create New Organization’. Enter Organization Title, Organization Type, Address, City, State, Zip. Enter an Invoice Email only if you have a separate central billing office that should also receive a copy of any invoices for billable services (do not re-enter your email here unless you want to receive all invoices associated with your organization). Click ‘Save’.
To change your organization's address or invoicing email, click on 'My Account' in the upper right corner.
- Click on 'My Organization', click on your organization's name, and click on 'Edit Details'
- Make any needed changes and click on 'Save'

EXPLORE PAGE

Please note: Clicking on a different page from within the Explore Page will open the page in a new tab. This ensures that the user does not lose their map state including their uploaded or added layers.

Map Widgets

Upper Left Corner Widgets:

Click on the Default Map View tool to zoom to the state of Minnesota
Click on the Legend tool to view a map legend
- Only visible layers (open eyeballs) will be shown in the legend
Click on the Select Basemap tool to select a different basemap

Upper Right Corner Widgets:

Click on the Search tool to navigate to addresses or places
Click on the Print/Export tool to print a map
Click on the Measure Distance tool to calculate distances
- Double-click to finish line
- Bug: This tool interacts with Search for Features and will affect your selection. Fix coming soon.
Click on the Measure Area tool to calculate areas and perimeters
- Double-click to finish polygon

Lower Right Corner Widgets:

Click on the Zoom In tool to zoom in and see more details on the map
Click on the Zoom Out tool to zoom out and see less details on the map

Define Area of Interest:

Click on 'Define Area of Interest' section to define an area of interest in one of three ways:

Important: For environmental review purposes, an area of interest should consist of the entire activity impact area and not just the project footprint.

1st Option: Draw your area of interest: Click on ‘Draw on Map’ and draw a polygon, line, or point on the map using the drawing controls
- Please note: You must zoom in closer than 1:72,224 to draw a shape
- Please note: You can only draw one polygon, line, or point. If your area of interest is best defined with multiple shapes, you will need to upload a zipped shapefile (see 2nd Option below).
- Please note: Lines and points will automatically be buffered by 300 feet. You have the option of changing the buffer distance.
- Click on Settings icon to toggle on/off ‘Snapping’, which displays right angles and parallel lines while you draw
- Click on Draw Polygon icon, Draw Line icon, or Draw Point icon, then click on map to begin drawing; double click to complete polygons and lines
- Click on Select Feature icon, to edit your shape; click on your shape to begin editing; double click outside your shape to complete shape
2nd Option: Select area of interest from a layer: Select a layer to search and then select a record as your area of interest
- Use the dropdown menu to select a layer
- Toggle on Show table
- Select a record
3rd Option: Upload a zipped shapefile that contains your area of interest: Click on ‘Upload File'
- Browse to the zipped shapefile, click on file, and click on 'Open'
- Please note: The zipped shapefile must contain all the components of a ESRI shapefile, including the .prj file in a standard ESRI projection
- Please note: The zipped shapefile must be < 10 MB in size
- Please note: The uploaded shapefile can consist of polygons, lines, or points and can contain multiple records

After defining an area of interest, users can choose to create a Conservation Planning Report or request a Natural Heritage Review.

Create a Conservation Planning Report:

Tip: Users must first define an area of interest in order to create a Conservation Planning Report

After defining an area of interest, click on 'Conservation Planning Report’ button
- Give your report a title, read the explanatory text, and click on 'Generate Report' button
- Please note: A new tab will open while the report is generating, which may take a few minutes
- Please note: The report will load in the new tab. If you would like to save the report, you will need to save it using your browser's save functionality.
- Please note: Use Ctrl-click to open the report's hyperlinks into a new tab. If you use click only, you will need to use the browser's back arrow to return to the report.
- Please note: Uploaded files used to create Conservation Planning Reports are not saved in the system

Request a Natural Heritage Review:

Important! Your organization's account must be in good standing to see this option. If you are logged in and do not see the 'Natural Heritage Review' button, please click on 'My Account' in the upper right corner. If your organization's account is past due, you will see the following message: Account is On Hold until payment issues are resolved. Please contact your organization's accounting department.

Tip: Users must first define an area of interest in order to request a Natural Heritage Review

After defining an area of interest, click on 'Natural Heritage Review' button
- Please note: The Natural Heritage Review option is only available to registered users who are connected to an organization; users must be logged in to see the button
Fill out the questions in the Request Natural Heritage Review window
- Important: Give each project a unique name!
Under ‘Project Submission’ select ‘Draft’ or ‘Final’ submission
Check the ‘I affirm…’ box and click ‘Submit’ (a pop-up window will appear confirming your submission)
The system will send you an email. It may take up to five minutes to receive the email.
Follow the instructions in the email

Important! If the map in your reports shows a world map instead of your area of interest, the review is invalid; please contact us immediately!

Search for Features:

Click on 'Search for Features' to spatially search for records and/or to filter the records of a layer based on attributes
Tip: Spatial Search and Attribute Filter work in concert
Use the dropdown menu to select a layer to search or filter
Spatial Search: Click on one of the four options to search (see instructions under Define Area of Interest for more detail)
- Draw on Map - Click on the polygon, line, point, or rectangle icon to draw a shape. If desired, click on Use Buffer to define a buffer
- Select from Layers - Select layer from dropdown menu. Select record by clicking on map or use Show table to select records from table
- Upload File - Browse to the zipped shapefile, click on file, and click on 'Open'
- Use Defined Area of Interest - Uses previously defined area of interest with option to add a buffer
- The search results will appear in the table
Attribute Filter:
- Click on 'Add Expression' to define a filter
- Select Field Name, Operator, and Value
- Click on 'Add Expression' if you would like to add another expression to your filter
- For multiple expressions, the default matching rule is "Matching all expressions"
- Click on Matching Rule section to change matching rule
- The filter results will appear in the table
Table Functionality:
- Click on 3 dots in upper right corner of table to customize columns or to select all features/records listed in table
- Once you have selected some features, you will have additional options when clicking on the three dots, including the option to a .csv or .pdf

Layers:

Click on 'Layers' to view available layers
Turn layers on and off by clicking on the eyeball
Tip: To see grayed-out layers, zoom in further on the map
Layers can be rearranged by dragging and dropping the layers
Click on spatial data in the map area to identify attributes
Click on the “…” button to:
- Zoom to layer
- Review layer descriptions
- Change opacity/transparency of layers

How Do I Add a Layer?

To add your own layer, click on 'Add Layer' button
Please note: Added layers are not saved and will be lost if you close the Explore Page
There are two ways to add a layer
- To upload a zipped shapefile, select ‘Upload Layer’
  - Click on 'Upload Shapeflie' and select your zipped shapefile,
  - Enter a unique name for your file
  - Click on 'Add Layer'
  - Please note: The zipped shapefile must contain all components of a ESRI shapefile, including the .prj file in a standard ESRI projection
  - Please note: The zipped shapefile must be < 10 MB in size
- To Link to a URL, click on the 'Link to URL' tab
  - Enter the URL of the layer you would like to add
  - Click on Verify URL
  - Click on 'Add Layer' button

Basemap:

Tip: Some basemaps consist of a reference (label) layer and a base layer that can be individually toggled on and off

LICENSED DATA

How Do I View Licensed Data?

License members need to create an account and log in to the system to view licensed data
After creating an account, you will need to contact your organization's License Coordinator to have them add you to the license
Licensed data can be found on the Explore Page under License Agreements in the Layer Section
Turn layer on and off by clicking on the eyeball
To see your license details, click on ‘My Account’ in upper right corner and click on ‘My License Agreements'

How Do I Manage My Organization's License?

Please Note: Only License Coordinators can manage an organization’s license.

Responsibilities of License Coordinator:

Point of contact for license,
Manage data access within your organization,
Restrict access to employees who have reviewed the NHIS External Training materials,
If desired, submit a License Agreement Application to License.NHIS@state.mn.us approximately 2 months before license expiration date, and
If applicable, delete all manually-delivered NHIS Nonpublic Data upon expiration of the license.

Managing Data Access within MCE:

Click on ‘My Account’ in upper right corner and click on ‘My License Agreements’
Click link found in License Agreement ID column
Use widget to add (select) authorized (trained) users or remove (de-select) users
Click ‘Save’

Tip: Users will need to create their own account in MCE before the license coordinator can add them to the license.