By DAN LADD, Adirondack Hunting & Fishing Report
— Although the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is in the same dire financial position as every other state agency, they are continuing to do the best they can with the resources they have.
A prime example of this is the expansion of maps and other data on their website, especially the most recent Google Earth offerings.
I love maps and as long as the technology has been available I have used digital map programs on my computer in conjunction with my GPS unit.
Marking stand sites, deer trails and fishing locations are just a few of the things I've done over the years as part of my digital scouting routine.
It's amazing what a little map work can reveal about your hunting and fishing spots.
Finding public lands, especially for hunting, is always a hot topic among sportsmen. One of the areas these programs are quite handy at is zooming in on and getting further details on lands not only in the Adirondack Forest Preserve but across the entire state.
That is just one of the latest features of DEC's Google Earth maps.
As more and more people become computer and Internet savvy they tend to look for this type of information on the Web. As for DEC, posting it to the website can save printing costs. Fish stocking and big-game harvest data reports have been a mainstay on their website for years but this Google Earth expansion is a giant step in providing more information to the masses in one shot.
What is Google Earth? Well, for an outdoorsman or map connoisseur it's just about the coolest thing on the Internet. It's defined as a "virtual globe program that shows the earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS over a 3D globe."
When you use Google Earth, you can sometimes view your maps and images from many angles. In doing so you can compare depths of valleys, heights of mountains and other information as long as the images are available.
It is an excellent scouting tool for outdoorsmen of any type who want to get a feel for a place they are going or have already been.
I've been using it to get an idea of what the terrain is like where I'm going on a hunting trip in Canada this fall.
What DEC has done is inventory many of the public offerings in a Google Earth format. These include trails of all types (hiking, horse, snowmobile, cross-country ski, disabled use).
All of the state campgrounds, parks, recreation areas and classified lands such as Wilderness Areas and Wild Forests in the Adirondacks can be viewed.
In addition, DEC is providing many contour maps of lakes throughout the state, likely in hopes of saving on the printing costs involved in handing them out at regional offices.
This is all good stuff and there's more than I'm mentioning here.
To use the Google Earth applications, you will need to download the free application, which is available for Mac and PC users alike. There is a link on DEC's website just for that purpose.
Dan Ladd is the author of "Deer Hunting in the Adirondacks," outdoors editor for the Glens Falls Chronicle, columnist for Outdoors Magazine and contributor to New York Outdoor News. Contact him at www.adkhunter.com.
