Vertebrate wildlife will probably continue to be a primary surrogate for assessing biological diversity in forested ecosystems. However, assessment tools such as wildlife-habitat models generally have proved to be poor predictors of wildlife population responses to landscape-scale changes in forest ecosystems. Forest ecosystem assessment therefore will require improved models. To improve modeling capabilities, scientists must clarify the primary determinants of wildlife habitat selection, which is a behavioral process that links wildlife populations with ecosystem processes. Wildlife populations respond to functional redundancies caused by multiple interactions among landforms, soils, and vegetation. Therefore, probing wildlife habitat selection responses to attributes of landforms, soils, and vegetation should result in improved wildlife-habitat models. In this paper, radiotelemetry data from a study on northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) are used to illustrate how remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIs) analysis might clarify basic determinants of habitat selection.