Mobile USFS maps available
|
|
November 20, 2013 |
The U.S. Forest Service now offers access to
variety of visitor maps for people using Android
and iOS devices.
"This mobile app makes it easier than ever to
plan your visit to a national forest or
grassland," said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom
Tidwell. "By putting important forest
information right at your fingertips, it will
encourage more Americans to get outside and
explore their forests."
The digital maps are part of USDA's work toward
reaching President Obama's initiative to create
a paperless government that also provides the
American public with better, more accessible
information.
Online customer surveys also indicated a desire
for more online products and information, such
as maps. The Forest Service is currently working
on the first phase of a website redesign,
expected to debut early in 2014, which centers
on a map-based tool for planning trips onto our
nation's forests, grasslands and other special
places.
The PDF Maps Mobile App, developed by Avenza
Systems Inc., is available as a free download
from iTunes and the Android Play Store. The app
provides access to Forest Service maps, such as
motor-vehicle-use maps, which are free while
pages from national forest atlases are 99 cents
and forest visitor maps are $4.99.
Prices are pending for other agency maps.
The maps are geo-referenced with the user's
location appearing as a blue dot. The app works
on iPhones (3GS or newer) and iPads with
WiFi+3G. It also works with Android 4 or newer
operating systems on devices with at least 1
gigabyte of memory.
Through the app, users can purchase and download
professionally created maps that are stored on
their devices. They can use the maps based on
their location when GPS is available. The maps
also will allow users to measure distance and
area, find coordinates, open a current view in
Google maps, plot place marks, add notes, enter
their own data and add photos as attributes.
Almost 700 Forest Service maps are available
through the app.
In areas of national forests and grasslands
where Internet connections are unavailable, the
app and static maps work well if users download
the maps prior to their visit. The apps and maps
also will be useful for wildland firefighters.
In geographic areas with internet availability
users will be able to use the products with live
data. The interactive map is expected to be
available on a limited basis starting in March
2014. The Forest Service's seven regions are
tasked with uploading maps. Users should contact
the regional office where a forest or grassland
is located if maps are not available on the app.
Paper maps are still available for purchase
online at the National Forest Store.
The Forest Service differs from other federal
government agencies in how the Forest Visitor
map is funded. The Agriculture Adjustment Act of
1938 calls for the sale of maps as the funding
mechanism to revise and produce maps for the
public. In 1999 the Act was amended to include
products available through the web as
"geo-referenced data."
The mission of the U.S. Forest Service, an
agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is
to sustain the health, diversity and
productivity of the nation's forests and
grasslands to meet the needs of present and
future generations.
The agency manages 193 million acres of public
land, provides assistance to state and private
landowners, and maintains the largest forestry
research organization in the world. Public lands
the Forest Service manages contribute more than
$13 billion to the economy each year through
visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide
20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a
value estimated at $7.2 billion per year.
The agency has either a direct or indirect role
in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850
million forested acres within the U.S., of which
100 million acres are urban forests where most
Americans live. |
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
