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"Generally, people agree that somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 to 80 percent of data has a spatial component to it," notes John Steffenson, forestry specialist with ESRI, a GIS and mapping software company with headquarters in Redlands, CA."GIS is a spatially organized database and geography is the integrating theme.So GIS is a pretty compelling solution for many fields." To date, fields ranging from municipal planning to disease control are integrating the capabilities of GIS/GPS technology into their jobs.And that list is growing as people such as Sawchuck learn to adapt this technology to their particular jobs. Over the past few years, Sawchuck has noticed that more people in forestry and environmental conservation are adapting GIS technology to their jobs because of its ability to analyze and present data in a spatial format.
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One common thread that connects these varied tasks is spatial data analysis.When Sawchuck first began working as a forest technician, paper maps and light tables were the preferred method for presenting data in a geographic format.Unfortunately, this traditional method offered little in terms of data analysis and presentation options.Today, Sawchuck and an increasing number of conservation department employees combine the speed and accuracy of a GPS with the analytic and presentation capabilities of a Geographic Information System (GIS).Īs a forester, Sawchuck finds that GPS and GIS technologies enable him to more rapidly collect and geocode data and then present it in numerous formats ranging from text-based tables to detailed color maps.But the most valuable asset that the GPS/GIS combination brings to this forester's job is its analytical power."A lot of people view GIS as a great mapmaking tool," Sawchuck notes."It does that really well, but the real power behind GIS is the ability to do analysis of your information." Oswego, NY - Diversity is a great word for explaining Daniel Sawchuck's job duties.As a senior forester for Region 7 in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Sawchuck advises landowners about planting and cutting, investigates outbreaks of insects and other pests, takes inventory of storm damage, notes the locations of rare plants and animals, maps hiking trails, and identifies archaeological sites.