This paper was a part of a presentation at the 2017 Alaska Surveying & Mapping Conference. The overall presentation was titled: "Legacy maps - Intent, accuracy, precision, and suitability to purpose. Cautions for surveyors, GIS professionals (and lawyers)" My involvement was due to litigation between DOT&PF South Coast Region and the U.S. Forest Service related to an exchange of reciprocal easements over or near the Tongass forest. The state would provide easements over tidelands for log transfer facilities in exchange for road easements over the USFS managed Tongass Forest. I was joined in this presentation by Tom Heinrichs (UAF-GINA), Dan Garner (ADOT&PF) and Dan Ignotov (DOT&PF)
The agenda outline stated the following: "Alaska is a young state, rich in mapping from the time of European and Russian explorations. Historical maps have played a key role in important surveying, mapping, and land use considerations. This talk will focus on the challenges of taking an older map--where the map’s intent and suitability to purpose are being debated--and applying the map to the real world using modern GIS mapping systems, precise surveying systems, and surveying and property law. Professional best practices of mapping and surveying will be discussed, as well as map accuracy and precision. Surveying has a long and established history of practices and precedent. Because electronic mapping using GIS is a relatively young discipline, absolute best practices and standards are not as well established. However, standards and best practices do exist and can be applied to interpretations of older maps."
| Date | Documents |
|---|---|
|
7/15/16 |
MAP No. 92337 - Section 4407 Easements - JFB Opinion |
|
8/16/16 |
Map 92337 Analysis - Heinrichs paper (7mb) |
|
2/16/17 |
4407 Easement Powerpoint Outline - ASMC Presentation |
|
2/16/17 |
ASMC Map 92337 - Powerpoint Presentation (2mb) |
|
2/16/17 |
|
| ANWR | |
|
11/18/05 |
2005 Legislative Maps of ANWR - CRS Report for Congress |
|
10/20/05 |
Arctic Map Vanishes and Oil Area Expands - New York Times article |
| Legal | |
|
12/13/16 |
State of Alaska v. US Forest Service - Exhibit to Complaint |
|
12/13/16 |
State of Alaska v. US Forest Service - Complaint |