Do you like to geek out with friendly fellow geospatial enthusiasts? Or just catch up on the latest GIS projects and resources? Definitely plan to attend this year's UGIC state GIS conference, but please give some extra thought to presenting, even if it'll be your first time. Don't delay, presentation abstracts are due this coming Monday, April 3. 

The 2017 UGIC Conference will be held May 10-12, 2017 in Park City with pre-conference training May 8-9. For information on presentation submission, registration, pre-conference training, lodging, and more, visit the conference webpage. 

The annual County property tax statements sent to property owners each summer list all the local government entities, specific to each address, that are dependent on property tax levies for their operational costs. Some are familiar, others like mosquito abatement, libraries, and cemeteries districts might not be. The GOED Broadband Outreach Center's March map of the month features a description and maps of special taxing districts. 

 UMETT is a UGIC committee that seeks to share best practices among GIS professionals who may be involved in supporting an emergency response. Did you know that UMETT is implementing a volunteer response group where you can assist your fellow GIS users if they get overwhelmed during an emergency?

Come learn about the response group at the pre-conference training at the UGIC Conference. This one-day training will also cover several official FEMA courses on national response systems. For more information on UMETT, contact Kate Smith at kate.smith@draper.ut.us.

The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) held its Midyear Meeting in Annapolis, MD Feb 27 - March 2, 2017. Representatives from 27 states and the District of Columbia were in attendance to collaborate, share best practices and learn about the latest geospatial advancements, particularly in the federal space. Learn more.

The ESRI Developer Sumit was held March 7-10, 2017. Missed it? Check out some takeaways from AGRC's dev team on ArcGIS Enterprise, the role of the Data Store, Vector Tiles, and more.

Draft Lidar data deliverables continue to roll in for the Utah's 2016 3DEP LiDAR acquisition projects. AGRC is currently working with the USGS to finalize the quality assurance for the GSL, Utah Lake, Forge, and Monroe Mountain project areas. Early snow onset resulted in delays for the Cache/Bear Lake Valleys and Washington County areas but we're working to share preliminary data to funding partners. There are only a few days of flight acquisition remaining for these areas but snow melt and runoff issues may bump completion until summer.

Stay tuned to gis.utah.gov, updates will be posted when open distribution becomes available for any of these new Lidar data resources. 

Why I Speak at Conferences and You Should too: by Scott Davis.
 

---

Geography On The Brain - The Hiking Plate Game: by Bert Granberg.
 

---

AGRC is actively working to integrate Esri open data views into the gis.utah.gov data pages. Joseph Kerski beat us to the punch with a blog post with hints at this direction, some nice Utah compliments and a link to a quick Utah-themed story map on the evolution of geography and GIS by Joe Rhodes.
 

---

Call for items: To include an item or event in the newsletter, or for questions on guest blogging, contact Jessie at jpechmann@utah.gov.