Hi all,
With regards to Mike Smith's message regarding the discontinuance by the
federal government of the NSDI CAP Grant program:
This is bad news for the GIS scene in Maine. The GeoLibrary Board has used
NSDI grants multiple times in the past to advance GIS in Maine.
The GeoLibrary used one NSDI grant in 2007 to update the Strategic Plan to
align with the national Fifty States Initiative. They held multiple
stakeholder meetings and focus groups to determine the needs of GIS users
across various sectors in Maine, and updated the Plan to reflect that. They
have since embarked on implementing the plan.
To work on implementing the Plan, they obtained another NSDI grant in 2010
and worked on creating the statewide tax parcels layer. This layer was
shown to be in high demand from GIS users across the state and across
sectors, from the results of the stakeholder meetings and focus groups from
when they updated the Plan in 2007.
To convince doubters that there really is a significant Return on
Investment for money put into GIS data gathering and projects, they secured
another NSDI grant in 2011 to do a Return On Investment study. This study
took three specific case studies - transportation, stormwater, and forestry
- and showed ROI values ranging from 4.21 to 12.64 or another way of
looking at it, a return of 421% to 1264%!! These case studies interviewed
people from all different sectors that have utilized GeoLibrary GIS data
(for example, the 2003-2004 statewide color orthos, first of their kind in
Maine) and the results show the invaluable nature of these products.
In 2012, the GeoLibrary Board secured yet another NSDI grant, this time to
implement the part of the Strategic Plan that called for updated
orthoimagery. The GeoLibrary is currently working very hard across the
state to get the updated orthoimagery plan in motion and convince potential
funding sources of its importance. They have already succeeded in southern
Maine and have obtained not only updated aerial imagery but also lidar
data. They are currently working in the Bangor area and farther north and
downeast.
Also, please keep in mind that all the work the members of the GeoLibrary
Board do is pro bono - so the grants that they obtain enable them to put
contractors to work to generate the data and fully implement the plans that
are developed through their many hours of volunteered time.
I encourage you to contact your legislators to let them know what the NSDI
CAP Grant Program has done for you in terms of advancement and coordination
of GIS in Maine, access to new and updated datasets, and how unfortunate it
is that they plan to do away with the NSDI CAP Grants.
Sincerely,
Gretchen Heldmann, GISP
__________________________
*Gretchen Heldmann, GISP*
GIS/IT Specialist, Town of Hampden
Office Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 7:30am-6pm
106 Western Avenue
Hampden, ME 04444
Phone: (207)862.4500 x142
http://www.hampdenmaine.gov/
*!NEW!* Aerial Imagery for Maine!
http://www.maine.gov/geolib/orthophotography.htm
On Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 2:35 PM, Smith, Michael <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> FYI info on CAP grants which have been heavily used in the past to fund
> Maine GIS initiatives…****
>
> ** **
>
> ===============================
> *Michael Smith MS GISP*
> State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
> State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
> *michael.smith _at_ maine.gov* 207-215-5530
>
> Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
> Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
> State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council
>
>
> State House Station 145
> 51 Commerce Drive
> Augusta, ME 04333-0145
> 69o 47' 58.9"W 44o 21' 54.8"N ****
>
> *From:* Staterep [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *William
> Burgess
> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 26, 2013 2:22 PM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* [NSGIC_State_Rep] CAP Grants | Heads-Up****
>
> ** **
>
> Hi Folks –****
>
> ** **
>
> The official word from FGDC on the 2013 CAP grants is that they are
> waiting for approval. Frankly, I think you can forget about them for this
> year and should definitely forget about them into the future. The
> following is from the President’s FY 2014 Budget. If I hear anything
> different, I will let you know.****
>
> ** **
>
> Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Legacy Activities ($1,697,000
> /-3 FTE)****
>
> National Geospatial
> Program
> ($1,697,000 /-3 FTE)****
>
> ** **
>
> In 2014, the USGS proposes to reduce funding for the FGDC. The FGDC would
> be funded at approximately $3.8 million. At this funding level, the FGDC
> Office of the Secretariat (OS) would provide support for the Steering
> Committee, Executive Committee, Coordination Group, and the National
> Geospatial Advisory Committee and support the Geospatial Line of
> Business/Federal Geospatial Platform. Support for key initiatives and
> Office of Management and Budget Circular A-16 components including
> architecture, the USGS National Spatial Data Clearinghouse network,
> geospatial standards development, National Spatial Data Infrastructure
> (NSDI) development and training, metadata program, and some of
> implementation of the A-16 Supplemental Guidance would continue. The
> reduction to the FGDC OS would result in a reduced level of staff and
> capacity to address the balance of the implementation of the A-16
> Supplemental Guidance, interagency policy, program, and coordination
> functions and requirements that would impact the Federal and national
> geospatial communities. *The proposed reduction would eliminate the NSDI
> Cooperative Agreements Program and cloud computing initiative and
> significantly reduce International activities.* The FGDC is funded
> through an interagency line of business. As the interagency steward of the
> program USGS funds the Office of the Secretariat. This reduction will
> eliminate funding for lower priority activities that have been historically
> provided by the Office.****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Take Care****
>
> ** **
>
> Bill Burgess, Washington Liaison****
>
> National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC)****
>
> 24760 Logans Woods Drive****
>
> Denton, Maryland 21629****
>
> ** **
>
> 443-448-4395 (Office)****
>
> 443-786-8404 (Cell)****
>
> [log in to unmask]****
>
> ** **
>
> http://www.nsgic.org****
>
> http://gisinventory.net ****
>
> ** **
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