Web Sites of Interest

By Susan Mason

Maps, Maps and More Maps

People have been making maps for thousands of years. At first, these were primarily aids for navigation and education; however, in about 1150 A.D., Arab geographers took a more comprehensive approach, gathering information on climates, crops, buildings, culture, language, crafts, and religion. They combined this data with previous geographical works to produce not just a world map, but also seventy regional maps. Since then, the use of maps has expanded dramatically to include not just geographic features but to graphically display information such as population density, natural resources, or any other data that can be correlated with a physical location.

Until recently, most people associated maps only with geography classes, atlases, globes, road maps and the National Geographic. The advent of satellites and geographic information systems (GIS) has expanded the scope of, and interest in, cartography tremendously. Data that governments spent billions to collect and keep confidential is now available to the world, for free, on the Internet.

Here are a few Web sites to introduce you to some of the available mapping resources. Many of these sites also offer numerous links to other mapping data, so plan to spend some time exploring the links. Some of the maps take a long time to display and an even longer time to download so you may want to try to find a fast Internet connection to use.

Geographical Information Center at CSU, Chico (GIC)

phobos.lab.csuchico.edu/projects
For Butte County maps, a good place to start is the GIC site, which offers northern California geographical information in both a preview form and a downloadable version. Each "project" contains numerous maps detailing different aspects of the area such as vegetation, hydrology, or land use. Some of the mapping projects available online include the Big Chico Creek Watershed, City of Chico, and Tehama Co. Vernal Pools. The GIC plans to eventually put their entire Map Library online.

HUD Environmental Maps

www.hud.gov/offices/cio/emaps/index.cfm
The HUD site offers map resources including air quality and watersheds, census and housing data, and hazardous waste sites. The HUD site allows you to zoom in on a very small geographic reporting area.

ESRI

www.esri.com
ESRI offers a comprehensive GIS and mapping site with links to most of the mapping information available online. You could spend hours just at this one site, following the links to other Internet map sites, learning the principles of GIS, and reviewing the software used to make maps. Click on "Geography Network" for a tour of map data worldwide.

GIS Data Depot

data.geocomm.com This site claims to be the largest free geo-spatial data repository on the Web. Although it does contain links to maps, it’s also focused on the business of the GIS industry. If you’ve wondered how people can make a living making maps, a few minutes here will convince you that GIS has uses far beyond what you could imagine.

Scorecard

www.scorecard.org This is an information service provided by Environmental Defense, including environmental maps for a variety of issues, such as Clean Water Act compliance status, hazardous air pollutants (of particular concern in Butte County), and chemical releases from manufacturing facilities.

TopoZone

www.topozone.com If you need topographic maps, TopoZone has every USGS map in 4 different scales for the entire United States. If you’re planning a hike or backpacking trip, you can print maps of small areas instead of ruining your big topo map by carrying it next to your leaking water bottle or refolding it one too many times.

USDA California Natural Resources Conservation Service

www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/maps.html This site contains one-page maps of various California political and resource boundaries, such as state assembly districts, soil surveys, and major land resource areas. The selection is limited, but the compact presentation form can be useful.

Thanks to Gary Liss, Keith McKinley, Jenn DaParma and Steve Green for recommending these Web sites.

From the Winter 2001 issue of the Environmental News.