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Local Interest in a New USGS Map Poster for the Town of Falmouth
Earlier this year, the town of Falmouth, MA, inquired about recent (circa late 1960s and 1970s) topographic maps of Falmouth, including Woods Hole and five other villages. The query eventually made its way to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)'s Woods Hole Field Center. Those topo sheets, once pioneer sheets for being published as metric maps (1:25,000 scale), are now 35 years old and sadly out of date, considering the intense development of Cape Cod in the 1980s and 1990s. As a public service, the USGS has often given the library copies of the topo sheets of the town. This year, in an effort to upgrade the mapping product, we generated a poster showing digital images of the topo sheets side-by-side with newer aerial photography available through MassGIS, the Massachusetts Office of Geographic and Environmental Information. Elizabeth Pendleton, recently hired to work with Jeff Williams and Rob Thieler on coastal sea-level-rise vulnerability, produced the poster, which has been a huge hit. The detail in the aerial photography, in comparison with the older topographic base map, provides a wealth of information (and topics) for investigating growth and change in the town of Falmouth. To date, copies of the new poster have been presented (or distributed) to the Falmouth Public Library, the Falmouth Selectmen, each of the schools in town, the Falmouth Conservation Commission, and the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, among others. Although requests for personal copies of the poster have started, our policy is to generate the poster only for public use. A copy is displayed outside the team chief scientist's office in Woods Hole. A hearty thanks to Elizabeth Pendleton for a map well done!
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in this issue:
cover story: Ecologically Sensitive Islands in the Bering Sea Track Florida's Manatees Via Web Site New Map Poster for Falmouth, MA Science Teachers Visit Woods Hole USGS Landsat Images Appear in Textbook Scientists Give "Telelecture" to Louisiana Students USGS Landsat Image Featured at Museum Manheim Lectures in Ireland and Sweden Saltwater Intrusion and Coastal Aquifers Natural Science and Better Health New Chief Scientist for Western Coastal and Marine Team Mendenhall Fellows Lecture in Reston, VA Mendenhall Fellow Joins Coral Reef Project Netherlands Scientist Visits Woods Hole USGS Employees Find Avocation in Blacksmithing |