MEGUG Fall 2006 Conference

8:00 - 8:30

Registration

8:30 - 8:45

Welcome
Richard Cost, President, University of Maine at Fort Kent

8:45 - 9:15

Aroostook County Municipal Parcel Project
Spencer Caron, Forest Technician and Public Safety Administration Student, Univ. of Maine at Fort Kent

Highlights the UMFK/NMDC project partnership for the development of Level One parcel Data for six Aroostook Communities.

9:15 - 10:00

GIS in County Government: Growth and Change in Cumberland County
Steve Harmon, GIS Coordinator, Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Regardless of their mix of urban and rural demographics, size, location, or affluence, most county governments in Maine have not been active users of GIS or related technologies. Over the past few years, this practice has started to shift in Cumberland County. Several county agencies have advanced in their use of spatial technologies; either by obtaining geo-spatial services, purchasing "mapping" software and applications or through direct investment in GIS/GPS software and hardware. This presentation will indicate which County agencies are using GIS; describe those particular GIS-related technologies, and explain how they are being used to conduct agency business. Information on implementation challenges, as well as the efforts needed to supply data for applications will be presented. End-user acceptance and other issues encountered after an application's initial roll-out will be discussed. The presentation will wrap-up with a description of what the future holds for expanding uses of geospatial technology in Cumberland County Government

10:00 - 10:30

Break
Poster session and Vendor Displays

10:30 - 11:15

Data Sources and Low Cost GIS Software
Dave Hobbins, Prof of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Univ of Maine at Fort Kent, and Ken Murchison, GIS Specialist, Northern Maine Development Commission

Review and Comparison of seven low-cost GIS software. Demonstration of MapWindow GIS. Discussion of available data sources... ???

11:15 - Noon

Does Maine Need an Association of GIS Professionals?
Matthew Bampton, Associate Professor of Geography, Univ of Southern Maine

There is a rapidly growing demand for GIS products and services in the nation, the region and the state, and a growing number of GIS professionals are working in Maine to meet that need. Over the past decade the profession has significantly increased in scope, and there has been a proliferation of applications of GIS technology. This, and the explosion of technologies such as vehicle-mounted GPS and web-based geospatial tools has resulted in a significantly increased public awareness of GIS. There are ongoing discussions at several levels of State government concerning the role of industry, public agencies, municipalities, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions in developing, delivering and regulating GIS work. I suggest that it is now time for the GIS professionals working in Maine to form a professional association to represent their interests to the government and the community. The most logical foundation on which to build such an association is MEGUG.

Noon - 1:00

Lunch

Possible MEGUG Business Meeting and announcements

1:00 - 1:45

The Forest Society of Maine is a land trust that works on projects throughout the state. GIS data plays a large role in both our planning and our ongoing stewardship of projects after they have been completed. GIS analysis of available data helps us prioritize and assess the resource values of new projects. Completed projects require GIS datasets for use in documenting baseline conditions, creating field maps to assist in monitoring, and to document changes to the property over time. We rely on numerous sources of data from state agencies, forest landowners, and data created at FSM. In addition to these uses, maps that we create tell the amazing story of conservation successes, which helps us gain donors and supporters as well as show the landowners that we are doing a good job in stewarding their lands. In-house or access to GIS services are vital to the success of any land trust who is trying to complete conservation projects. This talk will highlight specific cases of how FSM uses GIS in all phases of projects.

1:45 - 2:30

In an on-going effort to increase efficiency and productivity, Irving Woodlands has invested heavily in the field of mobile GIS, incorporating it into many aspects of its daily operations in the field.

Block layout is done with Trimble Recons loaded with up-to-date layers, including forest stand types, topography and a wide range of constrained areas. These units are coupled to Geneq receivers accurate to 3m.

Raw field data is acquired and processed centrally via the internal network, and returned to field personnel in the form of harvest polygons, for upload into harvest machinery using USB keys.

Each machine (feller-buncher, harvester or processor) is fitted with a Panasonic Toughbook laptop, also equipped with a Geneq receiver. This provides a heads-up display for the operator showing the machine s position in relation to the up-loaded harvest polygon. Both the Recons and toughbooks are loaded with customized versions or Arcpad, for ease of use and compatibility with the central database.

Production loss or slowdowns resulting from disorientation during night time, tall regeneration and snow storms have been virtually eliminated while layout accuracy and speed have qualitatively doubled.

2:30 - 3:00

ABSTRACT

3:00 - 3:45

This study serves as the initial step in a series of ongoing studies to investigate the trends in animal biodiversity in relation to the effects of global warming in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Using radio-telemetry, daily and seasonal movements of two male snapping turtles were investigated during the summer of 2002 in 18.4-ha Two Mile Lake, Vermilion, Michigan. The mean distance traveled per day and the home range size of each turtle was measured over season, with areas of use compared with the aquatic habitat as determined by GIS. Mean distance traveled per day varied significantly over season for each turtle, but not between turtles for same season (i.e. summer or fall). The area of home range showed seasonal variation, with a distinct, relatively large, summer home range, and a smaller fall home range. Individual home ranges appeared to be related to either water depth or substrate type, or a combination of both. Aggregations of locations within a home range were found in shallow areas (<2.5 m) with a relatively firm substrate, whereas, areas with no center(s) of activity were associated with deeper water with a considerable substrate layer of loose organic material. Home ranges did not overlap, which provides additional evidence that snapping turtles might be territorial during the summer.

3:45

ABSTRACT