Thursday, March 24, 2016

Esri Powers New Forest Data Maps From USDA

Redlands-based geographical information systems (GIS) software developer Esri is continuing to help government agencies make more of their data available to the public, in a new deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service. The Forest Service rolled out a new set of maps--the Forest Atlas of the United States, which lets the public browse a wide range of data, ranging from lumber areas to wildfire burn patterns across the U.S. The Forest Service said the move makes its Forestry Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database--which has been kept for almost a century--to end users, including forestry professionals to conservation-minded laypeople. Esri said the Forest Service information will help in climate change response, including educating and assisting in strategies to blunt the effects of extreme weather and global warming.

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