Community Mapping Program Receives National Award

The Community Mapping Program, a collaborative project of
the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) and the Orton Family
Foundation, received a 2003 "Special Achievement in GIS"
award from ESRI. ESRI is a global Geographic Information System (GIS)
industry leader and producer of ArcView software. According to ESRI,
"Every year the Special Achievement in GIS award honors an elite group of
organizations that have embraced GIS technology to better serve the world.
By their extraordinary contributions to our society they have set new
precedents throughout the GIS community." ESRI president Jack Dangermond
presented the award to the Community Mapping Program at ESRI's annual
conference in San Diego.
The Community Mapping Program provides GIS and Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) training and support to K-12 students, teachers, and community
organizations in order to facilitate place-based investigations. Mapping
and visualization technologies such as GIS and GPS allow students to
explore the landscape through dimensions of time, place, and sustainable
systems. Through partnering with a local organization, such as a
conservation commission, historical society, or watershed group, students
and teachers gain direction and expertise as they research local issues,
conduct field work, develop maps, and create products useful to the
community.
Community mapping work in the upcoming year includes Souhegan High School
students in Amherst, New Hampshire, searching for clues to the geologic
past near their homes and incorporating their findings for the New
Hampshire Geologic Survey. In Vermont, Moretown Elementary School is
collaborating with the Moretown Planning Commission to inventory the
municipal land surrounding the school. Fifth and sixth grade students will
work closely with the commission to map natural features so that the town
select board and school board can develop an informed vision for how the
land will be managed well into the future.
During the 2003-2004 school year, the Community Mapping Program will
support over 24 mapping projects including the following Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Massachusetts towns: Bradford, VT; Bristol, VT; Burlington,
VT; Duxbury, VT; Essex, VT; Fairlee, VT; Hanover, VT; Hartland, VT;
Hinesburg, VT; Ludlow, VT; Lyndon, VT; Middlesex, VT; Moretown, VT;
Norwich, VT; Randolph, VT; Richmond, VT; Ripton, VT; Sheldon, VT;
Westminster, VT; Amherst, NH; Charlestown, NH; Cornish, NH; Lebanon, NH;
Turners Falls, MA.
For more information on past or present mapping projects, please visit the
Community Mapping Program website at www.communitymap.org.
The Community Mapping Program is founded on a partnership of the Vermont
Institute of Natural Science (VINS) and the Orton Family Foundation.
Essential support has also been provided by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of
the Upper Valley Community Foundation and The Ward M. and Mariam C.
Canaday Educational and Charitable Trust. The Community Mapping Program
has supported over fifty projects in Colorado, Vermont, Massachusetts, and
New Hampshire.
VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science, www.vinsweb.org) is nonprofit,
membership organization located in Woodstock and which has regional
offices in Montpelier and Manchester, Vermont. It will open its new VINS
Nature Center near Quechee Gorge in the spring of 2004. Founded in 1972,
VINS's mission is to protect Vermont's natural heritage through education
and research. VINS's educational programs serve more than 20,000 adults
and 35,000 students each year. VINS is a leading research center for the
study of migratory songbirds, common loons, peregrine falcons, and other
threatened or endangered species. VINS also maintains one of North
America's most impressive collections of live raptors - hawks, eagles,
falcons, and owls - and has treated and released thousands of injured wild
birds of all species.
The Orton Family Foundation (www.orton.org) is a nonprofit organization
whose mission is to help citizens of rural America define the future,
shape the growth and preserve the heritage of their communities.