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AegisIII
11-10-2013, 22:54
Is GIS data for National Park Service lands for the Appalachian Trail (itself, not parks it goes through like Shenandoah or the Smokies) available online somewhere? I'm interested specifically in (northern) West Virginia. I checked the obvious places (NPS GIS, WV GIS, AT conference, Jefferson County...) but couldn't find anything. Wondering if there's somewhere else that has it.

Alligator
11-10-2013, 23:23
You want a data layer that shows land surrounding the trail that is designated as part of the trail? Did you just go to the ATC site or did you make a data request to the ATC?

T.S.Kobzol
11-11-2013, 08:51
I downloaded a kml file of the entire at a few weeks ago I think on the AT site. It was so large it could not be plugged into google maps. I discovered there is a size limit :-)

Sent from my vivid imagination and delusions of grandeur

burger
11-11-2013, 08:56
Any state land ownership map should have what you're intersted in. Just identify the NPS lands and look for the long, skinny corridor that's not part of one of the national parks per se.

lilricky
11-14-2013, 08:41
I assume you already found the AT GIS data here: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about-the-trail/mapping-gis-data/appalachian-trail-gis-gps-data Was there something different that you were trying to find?

Major Bawls
11-14-2013, 11:50
Is GIS data for National Park Service lands for the Appalachian Trail (itself, not parks it goes through like Shenandoah or the Smokies) available online somewhere? I'm interested specifically in (northern) West Virginia. I checked the obvious places (NPS GIS, WV GIS, AT conference, Jefferson County...) but couldn't find anything. Wondering if there's somewhere else that has it.

Is there something specific you are looking for? Points (coordinates)? I may be able to help but you have to help me help you get there. I have the entire trail mapped and it is generally what I use IF I need to and when not fooling around with a compass.

AegisIII
11-15-2013, 22:26
I really only wanted to know if anyone already had the link for what I was looking for. It's not an important thing for me, so if no one knows, I don't need anyone scouring all around for me.

Anyway, what I'm looking for: lands owned by the National Park Service for the Appalachian Trail; those outside of any other public or protected lands. Specifically, those for the trail in northern West Virginia: Jefferson County. Like I said, if no one knows immediately where the information is, it's something I can easily live without.

Another Kevin
11-16-2013, 12:42
I presume that you're looking for high-resolution data, so https://irma.nps.gov/App/Reference/Profile/2184107 won't help?

AegisIII
11-16-2013, 21:46
Well, I don't know, as there's no downloads I can see from my end for that dataset. Thanks for trying.

burger
11-16-2013, 22:46
Like I said, all you need is the state land ownership layer for whatever state you're interested in. Just google West Virginia GIS and then look for downloadable layers. But if you expect someone else to find the link for you and you're not willing to do a little googling yourself, then your loss, I guess.

Another Kevin
11-16-2013, 23:47
Uhm. Missed that IRMA didn't have a link up.
But I now realize that the data is just derived from the 1:2000000 Federal Lands data set, and that does not have the corridor.
I'm not sure that the data necessarily exist, outside the assessors' offices in the counties that the trail runs through. If you find something useful, please let me know!

Another Kevin
11-16-2013, 23:50
Like I said, all you need is the state land ownership layer for whatever state you're interested in. Just google West Virginia GIS and then look for downloadable layers. But if you expect someone else to find the link for you and you're not willing to do a little googling yourself, then your loss, I guess.

No need to be nasty. You must live in one of the states (e.g., Massachusetts) that make the land ownership data readily available. There are other states where the land ownership data is available to the public only on the paper maps, not available even for photocopy, and you have to travel to a county seat - and know the book and parcel numbers - before you can look at them. Seriously. The GIS departments sell the data, or fantasize that someday they can. (Example: Suffolk County, New York, mounted a successful copyright infringement action against a third-party vendor that made electronic copies of its tax maps available.)

ki0eh
11-18-2013, 17:25
Trust me, if this OP couldn't find it, it's hidden from ordinary search engines. :D

The variable availability and quality of parcel data is quite an aggravation for those of us who deal with cross-jurisdictional GIS projects - moonlighting for a cash starved volunteer trail group dealing with 9 states. If parcels are available freely in MA it almost makes me wish we had been able to extend the project through Niskayuna and into MA.

Another Kevin
11-18-2013, 18:35
Trust me, if this OP couldn't find it, it's hidden from ordinary search engines. :D

The variable availability and quality of parcel data is quite an aggravation for those of us who deal with cross-jurisdictional GIS projects - moonlighting for a cash starved volunteer trail group dealing with 9 states. If parcels are available freely in MA it almost makes me wish we had been able to extend the project through Niskayuna and into MA.

Right. In some places (such as some New York counties), the data simply don't exist in any form. Deeds are recorded by metes and bounds, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metes_and_bounds) and if a parcel hasn't been subdivided since the recorders started requiring maps, it may never have been mapped.

leaftye
11-18-2013, 19:03
http://www.arcgis.com/explorer/

AegisIII
11-19-2013, 22:35
http://www.arcgis.com/explorer/

Well, that didn't have what I wanted (or I haven't found it yet). But, I did find a parcel availability map for WV, and it does not show as Jefferson County is being such, which suggests that what I'm looking for may not be online.

More importantly, looks like I could spend some time at the site just looking into what all I can find, even stuff I'm not looking for.