Please remove dependencies on **rgdal**, **rgeos**, and/or **maptools**

[rsbivand]

This package depends on (depends, imports or suggests) raster and one or more of the retiring packages rgdal, rgeos or maptools (https://r-spatial.org/r/2022/04/12/evolution.html, https://r-spatial.org/r/2022/12/14/evolution2.html). Since raster 3.6.3, all use of external FOSS library functionality has been transferred to terra, making the retiring packages very likely redundant. It would help greatly if you could remove dependencies on the retiring packages as soon as possible.

Please note that rgrass7 is ddeprecated and will be archived during 2023; rgrass already uses terra, not rgdal for file input/output.

[rsbivand]

You will be aware, for example from:
https://r-spatial.org/r/2022/04/12/evolution.html,
https://r-spatial.org/r/2022/12/14/evolution2.html,
https://r-spatial.org/r/2023/04/10/evolution3.html and
https://rsbivand.github.io/csds_jan23/bivand_csds_ssg_230117.pdf and
perhaps view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlpjIqTPMCA&list=PLzREt6r1NenmWEidssmLm-VO_YmAh4pq9&index=1
that rgdal, rgeos and maptools will be retired this
year, in October 2023.

openSTARS imports 'rgdal' using rgdal::readGDAL rgdal::readOGR rgdal::writeOGR, and depends on rgrass7. This package is being replaced by rgrass, and uses terra for exchanging files with GRASS. This suggests that importing terra in place of rgdal, and replacing rgrass7 with rgrass and updating function names should be sufficient to keep openSTARS working. Please get in touch if you need help.

[rsbivand]

Please migrate to rgrass from rgrass7 as soon as possible. rgrass7 will be retired with maptools, rgdal and rgeos in October 2023. This CSV file shows the direct exposure to rgrass7 functions:
res5_rgrass7_230524.csv

[rsbivand]

@MiKatt See also https://r-spatial.org/r/2023/05/15/evolution4.html. Please take urgent steps to resolve this issue. No positive changes appear in the repository. Less than three months remain to retain this package on CRAN.

[rsbivand]

@MiKatt Less than three weeks remain to fix this.

[rsbivand]

@MiKatt R spatial infrastructure packages maptools, rgdal and rgeos will be archived by CRAN on Monday, October 16, 2023; rgrass7 has been replaced by rgrass and will be archived too. Your package does not pass CMD check when these packages are not available. Expect your package to be archived by CRAN October 17-18 as CRAN checks feed through and your package fails, if not updated by Monday, October 16, 2023.

No grace period is anticipated, as you have had sufficient time to update your package to remove dependencies on maptools, rgdal and/or rgeos.