You’ll intersect the slopelt40_shp, elevlt250_shp, climate_shp, and Suitable Vegetation (Minus Roads) feature classes to derive a dataset of suitable patches.

To do so, expand the Overlay toolset located inside the Analysis Tools toolbox. Click and drag the Intersect tool into the display window. Right-click the Intersect tool and click Open.

Click the Input Features dropdown arrow and click the layer climate_shp. The layer is added to the features list. Click the Input Features dropdown arrow again and click the layer slopelt40_shp. Click the Input Features dropdown arrow again and click the layer elevlt250_shp. Click the Input Features dropdown arrow again and click the variable Suitable Vegetation (Minus Roads).

You’ll use the default and will not assign any ranks to the input feature classes. The default takes an average if the distance between feature classes is less than the XY Tolerance. You would assign ranks if you knew that some of your feature classes were more integrally sound than others. Features in the feature classes with lower ranks will snap to features in the feature classes with higher ranks; the highest rank is 1, and lower ranks go up in value.

Leave the default location for the parameter Output Feature Class and type “intersect_output” for the name.

Leave the default to join all attributes. Leave the default for the value of the XY Tolerance parameter and the units as Feet. The default (blank) means that an appropriate default value will be calculated, using the units of the spatial reference set for the output, in this case, in feet, as the input spatial reference units are in feet. All lines within the default XY Tolerance will be considered coincident. Leave the default for the Output Type so the geometry of the output feature class will be the same as the input with the lowest geometry type (polygon in this case).

Click OK.

Click Auto Layout, then Full Extent to display all the model elements in their default position in the display window. Right-click the intersect_output derived data element and click Rename. Type “Intersect Output” and click OK. Right-click the Intersect Output derived data element and click Add To Display.

Right-click the Intersect tool and click Run, then click the Model menu and click Save.