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GIS Practice of the Week
Montana Cadastral Mapping Project
Cadastral data is a framework of property boundaries along with associated land ownership information (who owns what and where). The goals of the Montana Cadastral Mapping Project are to produce and maintain cadastral information in a consistent, digital format for the entire state. In the interest of efficiency, the Montana Cadastral Mapping Project used existing data, personnel, and funding resources whenever available.
Two pieces of information utilized by the Montana Cadastral Mapping Project are required to create aliquot part parcels (aliquots are the basic unit of land in the Public Land Survey System, denoting a parcel of land one mile square in extent or 640 acres):
- Legal land descriptions defining the aliquot parts to plot.
- Framework of coordinates defining the public land survey.
For most of the state, both pieces of information exist in a digital format. The existing databases are the Montana Department of Revenue Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal System (CAMA) database and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Geographic Coordinate Database (GCDB). Integrating the above two databases to produce digital land ownership parcels required custom written software, approaching 20,000 lines of code in 40 programs, using several programming environments controlled by a single user interface. This suite of programs, called the Montana Automated Parcel Program (MAPP), is the backbone of the project.
For more information on the project, please click here.
 | | Excerpt of map for Helena, MT |
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Report on Cultural Resources GIS (CRGIS) Database
Now Available
Report Offers Best Practices, Model for State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) To Develop CRGIS Databases
Recommendations and best practices for state DOTs to develop statewide CRGIS databases are described in a report released September 30 under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (Project 25-25, Task 61).
A CRGIS database can help state DOTs streamline the historic preservation compliance process during the design and implementation of transportation improvement projects.
According to the report, a CRGIS database can help state DOTs do the following:
- identify cultural resources that are also Section 4(f) properties, during transportation planning and early project development;
- design projects that avoid significant cultural resources that otherwise would require expensive and time consuming mitigation prior to construction;
- identify, budget, and schedule the level of effort needed to conduct cultural resources investigations at the beginning of the project development process, resulting in predictability in project costs and scheduling; and
- identify the need for cultural resource mitigation during transportation planning or early in the project development process.
The study involved a survey of state DOTs that have developed a CRGIS to identify best practices in the following areas: database development, database design, database access, implementation of the CRGIS, and future plans for the CRGIS.
The study also produced a sample dataset for a hypothetical CRGIS database that state DOTs can use as a model.
To access the report, please click here. A presentation on the study is also included with the report.
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GIS Practice of the Week
Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) of Northeastern Illinois - Asset Management System
The Regional Transportation Asset Management System (RTAMS) is a data warehouse for planning and financial information on the transit system in the northeastern Illinois area surrounding Chicago. RTAMS allows users to access transit and other related data through an interactive map. The Northeastern Illinois RTA developed RTAMS in coordination with other regional agencies. For information on RTAMS, please click here.
 | | RTAMS website |
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