Last week, AGRC released a significant update to the gis.utah.gov website. The new website, v6.0 by our count, takes advantage of GitHub Pages free website hosting for open sourced projects -- which in our case is just the html, javascript, images, and css that makes up the site.

Check out the new website and, for inquiring minds, the behind the scenes description of our refresh project including how we got here, next steps, and snapshots of AGRC's websites over the last 20+ years. 

As always, everything useful at gis.utah.gov is made possible by the great work of the entire Utah GIS community. We can't say it often enough...Thanks to all that help make Utah a national leader in geospatial technology. 
 

Maps on the Hill celebrated its 5 year anniversary on March 1, 2016. Thank you to everyone who participated, especially those that contributed to the nearly 50 map displays. UGIC makes this annual event and accompanying make book a huge success -- both are looked forward to by elected officials and capitol hill staffers and visitors.

Check out the Maps on the Hill 2016 Map Book, and photos from the event. Mark your calendars, as a reservation is in place for Maps on the Hill, next year, on January 25, 2017. 

A partnership between the Departments of Public Safety (DPS) and Transportation (UDOT) collects statewide vehicle collision records from across state and local government agencies. This information is used to improve safety through targeted education, roadway projects, and enforcement activity. The collision data can be viewed and filtered, at crashmapping.utah.gov, by contributing factors (weather, alcohol, etc), as well as crash severity and date/time patterns.

How does a GIS program decide what to focus on? How does GIS create organizational value? Wade Kloos, GIS Director at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, has created a list of GIS activities and a GIS Activity Pyramid to help conceptualize the choices GIS Managers have and how to connect outcomes with the best value to the organizational mission.

New layers of historical imagery were recently added to AGRC's Discover server. These include NAIP imagery from 2006 and 2014. In order to see the new layers you may need to 'refresh' your application connection to Discover. To do this in ArcCatalog simply right-click the connection you use to access the Discover services, and select 'Refresh'. 

Also, updated Fall 2015 6" aerial photography, licensed from Google, for the Price and Kanab block areas, has been added to the 'utah' imagery service on the Discover server.

UGIC's 2016 Conference will be May 9-13, 2016 in Bryce Canyon, Utah. The conference will be a great place to geek-out with people who actually know what you do for work. Pre-conference training (May 9-10) can fill up fast, so register today!

In October 2015, AGRC, in partnership with local, state, and federal partners submitted a proposal to the U.S. Geological Survey's 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) Grant program. The proposed project will acquire QL1 and QL2 specification lidar and elevation data in Northern Utah and other areas of interest. AGRC received notice that the proposal has been recommended for funding and the partnership is preparing for a Fall 2016 acquisition.  

The Lt. Governor's updated vote.utah.gov website is now drawing on api.mapserv.utah.gov geocoding and spatial query services to provide citizens with information on voting and on current elected officials for their area of interest.

An interesting read for everyone keeping up on trends in the GIS and related technology areas:

• National Geospatial Advisory Committee Report: The Changing Geospatial Landscape, a Second Look

Utah scores expectedly well, but not as high as it obviously deserves, in the USDA's county-by-county Natural Amenities Index:

• As detailed in this Washington Post article

If you have an item or newsletter suggestion, contact Jessie at jpechmann@utah.gov.