New Internet Mapping Highlights Recreational
Opportunities in the Delaware River Basin
(03/74) TRENTON - The Department
of Environmental Protec tion (DEP) and the Delaware River
Basin Commission announced today a new internet mapping
program, which showcases recreational opportunities along
the Delaware River. i-Map DelBasin provides easy to use,
simultaneous access of geographic information system (GIS)
data from the four states bordering the Delaware River -
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
"New Jersey offers all kinds of recreational
opportunities including hiking trails, camping grounds and
fishing waters," said DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell.
"This technology provides hikers, bikers, birders and
boaters with the tools to make the best of their precious
free time outdoors," he added.
This user-friendly application identifies
state and federal fish advisories, gaging stations where
recreational boaters can safely pump out marine heads, as
well as state and federal park locations. Dissimilar reference
maps from the four states are customized into one standardized
map with a uniform scale that provides access for driving
directions.
"This application is a benchmark for
us," said Karl Heinicke, DRBC GIS manager. "In
the future, the public will start seeing more and more of
the DRBC's information served up on the internet in easy-to-use
applications like i-Map."
So, if you are looking for a place to launch
your boat or a place to kayak or canoe or you are interested
in how much water is flowing in a river or stream, i-Map
DelBasin is the tool to use.
Experts from New Jersey, Delaware, New
York and Pennsylvania, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency-Regions 2 and 3, the U.S. Geological Survey, and
Lehigh University worked closely with DRBC staff to build
the application.
Coordination for the project was provided
by the Commission's Information Management Advisory Committee
(IMAC) which is chaired by the DEP Office of Information
Resources Management, Bureau if Geographic Information Systems.
The DEP managed the project and provided the template for
the application. Cybertech Inc. performed contract work.
The DRBC provided $40,000 in funding for
the project. DELEP and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
provided $5,000 each.
i-Map DelBasin can be found on the DEP
web site (www.nj.gov/dep/gis/mapping.htm),
on the DRBC web site (www.drbc.net)
or on the Delaware Estuary Program (DELEP) web site (www.delep.org).
Specialized GIS software is not needed to run the application.
i-Map DelBasin works best with Internet Explorer, version
5.0 and above and uses ESRI ArcIMS technology.
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