Mapping the Nation

This volume contains GIS maps illustrating the many ways that federal government agencies rely on GIS analysis to help make the world a better place. Pulled from a broad range of agencies, maps included in the book demonstrate how the technology can be used to evaluate and respond to social, economic, and environmental concerns at local, regional, national, and global levels.

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Mapping the Nation: Pioneering a New Platform for Government is a collection of maps developed by federal agencies using both desktop and web-based GIS tools. These maps and tools are used daily by federal employees, officials, and in some cases by the public, to gather, analyze, and respond to questions and challenges that range from the common to the catastrophic. More than twenty-five agencies across nine U.S. departments have contributed maps on subjects such as ecoregions, disaster planning, census distributions, hydrography, and pollution remediation. The visual results of GIS mapping as it is applied by these federal agencies naturally fosters a deeper understanding among many divergent perspectives and offers a truly new platform from which to compare and exchange information and points of view.