Lake Roosevelt Administrative History

Geographic Information System

Geographic Information System (GIS) technology makes possible very detailed and accurate mapping by using data from satellites. The Park Service tried the new technology about 1974 in both the Great Smokey Mountains and Yosemite. GIS spread slowly, with fewer than five National Park units using the systems by 1986. The next five years brought a rapid expansion, however, raising the total to more than ninety parks in 1991. The Cooperative Park Studies Unit at the University of Idaho undertook most of the data development for all but the three largest parks within the region, offering workshops and technical support. [99]

LARO was working with the University of Idaho by 1991 to develop a small-scale system. Superintendent Kuiper announced that the park had decided to utilize GIS on a priority need basis, targeting parts of the lake that needed immediate, detailed analysis. LARO concentrated on the Kettle River corridor in 1991 to assist in its assessment of habitat for wildlife mitigation. Under the Regional GIS Plan, approved in November 1994, a Regional GIS Coordinator would oversee development of GIS systems in all the parks. Each park, in turn, was to have its own coordinator, with larger units like LARO having a full-time, permanent position by the end of the first phase. The Coordinator would be assisted by the Regional GIS Steering Committee. The first priority was to help each park develop at least minimal GIS capability through development of primary databases to use for basic GIS applications. The Field Technical Support Center, initially at the University of Idaho, provided help mostly over the telephone or through email contact. The Regional GIS facilities helped replace those at the university, which were phased out during FY1994-1995. [100]

The Park Service was not alone in using GIS at Lake Roosevelt. Both the CCT and the STI purchased GIS technology ca. 1989 to enable them to conduct mapping within the reservoir area. Other federal and state agencies who worked on the lake also had GIS systems by 1993, and LARO worked to develop its system in coordination with the others to facilitate sharing of data. The tribes and agencies planned to use GIS primarily to inventory and monitor wildlife and vegetation, encroachments, and cultural resources. In 1994, LARO pooled funding with BPA to purchase GIS hardware and software. In addition, BPA provided money for a GIS Specialist position to support BPA-funded projects at Lake Roosevelt; the agency withdrew this funding in 1995. Loss of this position slowed down the GIS program at LARO. The park received some funding in FY1996 to help support an ongoing Reclamation project to digitize all the topographical maps for Lake Roosevelt, with data to be available for mapping archaeological and burial sites. LARO submitted a Project Proposal in September 1997 for funding to develop a predictive model for archaeological sites based on the geomorphologic position of known sites, using information from more than three hundred recorded sites. A second project was designed to map features of cultural sites on digitized campground facility maps to assist in future compliance projects. [101]