Layer additions from May 2026 user-feedback round

[cboettig]

Status (updated 2026-06-02): All config-only work for this feedback round is done and live — all 9 catalog-ready layers (#20, #21) plus the UI/agent fixes (#19, #22). Everything remaining is dataset-tier or framework work tracked upstream (data-workflows#170, geo-agent#62, geo-agent#221, geo-agent#118). This issue is a tracker for those handoffs; the live status of each is in the tables below. See the dated comments for the landing history.

9 user-feedback submissions on the tpl-ca form, May 8–15 2026 (https://data-requests.nrp-nautilus.io/api/requests).

Layers / data

Ask	Status	Where
Climate Bond Disadvantaged Communities	✅ Live	#21 — CA DAC (tract)
Demographics / population	✅ Live	#20, #21 — GHS-POP, CA DAC, Census tracts
Selectable Census tracts	✅ Live	#21 — California Census Tracts
Broader fire history (pre-2000, multi-burn)	✅ Live	#20 — USGS Wildland Fires 1878–2020
CDFW-style species maps	✅ Live	#20 — IUCN Species Richness + NCP Biodiversity
Tree Equity / canopy (partial fit)	✅ Live	#20 — CGLS Land Cover 100m
Federal lands context	✅ Live	#20 — PAD-US fee + combined
Equity / redlining context	✅ Live	#20 — HOLC Redlining
LWCF / funding-by-program queries	✅ Live	#20 — conservation-almanac-2024-funding wired (closed #4)
native-land.ca + NAHC (CA tribes, all)	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/data-workflows#170
USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/data-workflows#170
APN-level parcel ownership	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/data-workflows#170
Trails + trail-miles	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/data-workflows#170
American Forests Tree Equity Score	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/data-workflows#170

UI / agent behavior

Ask	Status	Where
Chat panel covering layer menu (5 of 9 users)	✅ Fixed	#19 — sidebar layout
Tool-call output too noisy	✅ Fixed	#19 — geo-agent v3.7.0 subtle timeline
Chat capabilities not discoverable	✅ Fixed	#19, #22 — docs section + "ask the assistant" callout
CSV export	✅ Already works	Training — docs callout (#22)
Layer transparency (ask the agent)	✅ Already works	Training — same docs callout (#22)
Map export	↗️ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/geo-agent#62 — report generation pathway
Query runtime estimate	⛔ Not feasible	Agent thinking time isn't predictable; per-turn timeline shows post-hoc step timings (#19)
Layer transparency / z-order UI controls	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/geo-agent#221
PMTiles legend visibility	⏳ Upstream (open)	boettiger-lab/geo-agent#118 — geo-agent#222 closed as dup

Already in catalog (mention in TPL update email)

USFWS Critical Habitat, WCB Approved Projects, NWI Wetlands, MOBI Species Richness, CalEnviroScreen, LandMark Indigenous, American Rivers (×7).

Original triage detail

Triage of 9 real user feedback submissions on the tpl-ca form (May 8–15, 2026).

Layers added (config-only, catalog-ready)

1. CA DAC / EDA 2023 — 3 users (Abernethy, Wu, Ojeda) — ca-dac-eda-2023
2. USGS Combined Fires 2021 — 4 users — usgs-fires-2021-combined
3. Census 2024 Tracts — Ojeda explicit — census-2024-tract
4. GHS-POP 2020 — 2 users — ghs-pop-2020
5. IUCN Species Richness 2025 — 1 user — iucn-richness-2025
6. CGLS Land Cover 100m 2019 — 2 users (partial fit for TES) — cgls-lc100-2019
7. PAD-US 4.1 — implicit — pad-us-4.1-fee, pad-us-4.1-combined
8. NCP Biodiversity — implicit — ncp-biodiversity
9. Mapping Inequality (HOLC Redlining) — implicit equity context — mappinginequality

More-local user asks (filed as data-workflows#170)

User-named layer	What we have today	Why our layer doesn't fully fit	Users
native-land.ca + NAHC Digital Atlas (CA tribal cultural affiliation, incl. non-federally-recognized)	LandMark (global, formal land-rights, predominantly federally-recognized)	Different concept: cultural affiliation vs. formal land tenure	2 anon
USFS WRC + CAL FIRE WUI (FRAP)	CalFire historical perimeters + Rx burns	Risk-modeling product vs. historical-record product. WUI: data-workflows#140	hugh.coxe
APN-level parcel ownership	CPAD unit-level (UNIT_NAME, AGNCY_NAME)	Parcel ≪ CPAD unit	3 anon (Coxe, Wu, anon)
Trails + trail-miles	American Rivers NRI (rivers only)	No national trails dataset in catalog	2 anon
Tree canopy / American Forests Tree Equity Score	NLCD tree-cover not exposed; TES is its own product	TES bundles canopy + equity weighting	francisco.ojeda

[cboettig]

Status update — 2026-05-21

Landed

#19 — UI & agent fixes (covers the "Out of scope here — UI/agent issues" section):

• Sidebar layout replaces the floating Data Assistant panel — addresses the 5-of-9 users who couldn't toggle layers because chat covered the menu (Coxe, Wu, anon×2, Ojeda).
• Pinned geo-agent v3.6.1 → v3.7.0 → main HEAD (0394b6927) for per-turn agent timeline (tool-call traces are now subtle but still inspectable for debugging) + 16K tool-result cap + MCP timeout fix + sidebar CSS polish.
• docs.html "Working with the Data Assistant" section documents transparency / CSV export / legend behaviors users didn't know to ask about.

#20 — Wave 1 & 2 layers (7 of 9 catalog-ready adds):

#	Layer	Status
1	CA DAC / EDA 2023	⏸ blocked — see below
2	USGS Combined Fires 2021	✅ landed (Fire group)
3	Census 2024 Tracts	⏸ blocked — see below
4	GHS-POP 2020	✅ landed (new Demographics group)
5	IUCN Species Richness 2025	✅ landed (Biodiversity — combined / mammals / birds)
6	CGLS Land Cover 100m 2019	✅ landed (new Land Cover group)
7	PAD-US 4.1 (fee + combined)	✅ landed (Conservation Areas)
8	NCP Biodiversity	✅ landed (Biodiversity — NCP only + NCP × natural habitat)
9	Mapping Inequality (HOLC)	✅ landed (Social Vulnerability)

Also wired in #20: conservation-almanac-2024-funding tabular collection — joins to -sites on tpl_id and carries program / amount / sponsor / sponsor_type. Resolves the funding-query loop diagnosed in #4 (#4 closed).

#6 (American Rivers) closed — already wired since April.

Blocked on upstream STAC patch

Layers 1 (CA DAC / EDA) and 3 (Census 2024 tract) — both have PMTiles assets with vector:layers: null in STAC. The framework falls back to the asset key as the source-layer name, but the actual internal layer is tract, so they silently render nothing. Filed as boettiger-lab/data-workflows#163. Once that lands, adding these is a one-block edit per layer.

Still to do (separate issues to file)

"More-local / more-accurate" user asks — these are dataset-tier asks, not config asks. Need to be filed against data-workflows:

• native-land.ca + NAHC Digital Atlas (CA tribal cultural affiliation, incl. non-federally-recognized) — 2 anon users
• USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities + CAL FIRE WUI (FRAP) — Coxe (data-workflows#140 exists for WUI; WRC has no issue yet)
• APN-level parcel ownership — Coxe, Wu, anon×3
• Trails + trail-miles (PCT segments, trails within drawn areas) — 2 anon
• Tree canopy / American Forests Tree Equity Score — Ojeda

UI/agent items not addressed by #19 — should be filed against geo-agent:

• Tool-call traces leaking into chat output as plain text — anon
• No estimate of query runtime — anon, Ojeda
• Layer transparency / z-order controls — Wu (upstream geo-agent#221)
• Legend visibility for PMTiles layers — Ojeda (upstream geo-agent#222)
• CSV export / map export — Ojeda

Leaving this issue open until the "more-local asks" data-workflows issues are filed and the UI items have geo-agent tickets.

[cboettig]

Update — CA DAC + Census tract landed

boettiger-lab/data-workflows#163 patched the missing vector:layers metadata, unblocking the two remaining catalog-ready layers. Landed in #21:

• CA Disadvantaged Communities (DAC, tract) — Social Vulnerability group, styled binary on DAC23
• California Census Tracts — Political Boundaries group, filtered to STATEFP=06

All 9 catalog-ready layers from this issue are now in the app. Remaining work on this issue is the "more-local / more-accurate user asks" table (5 data-workflows issues to file) and the UI/agent items not addressed by #19 (5 geo-agent tickets to file).