Maps, GPS coordinates are available for campers, hunters, fishermen
Anyone who’s about to pull out their hair looking for a perfect, last-minute Christmas gift for a sportsman who camps, hikes, fishes or hunts on U.S. Forest Service land should consider an application that makes a variety of new visitor maps available to Android and iOS device owners.
“This mobile app makes it easier than ever to plan your visit to a national forest or grassland,” said Tom Tidwell, the USFS’s direct. “By putting important forest information at your fingertips, it will encourage more Americans to get outside and explore their forests.”
The new digital maps are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s effort to create a paperless government and offer the public more easily-accessible information. The USFS hopes to finish the first part of a website redesign that’s to debut during early 2014.
The PDF Maps Mobile App, developed by Avenza Systems Inc., is available as a free download from iTunes and the Android Play Store. The app offers access to USFS maps, such as motor-vehicle-use maps, which are free. Pages from national forest atlases are 99 cents, while forest visitor maps are $4.99. Prices are pending for other maps.
Maps will show the user’s location as a blue dot, and iPhones (3GS or newer) and iPads with WiFi+3G will provide access. Android 4 or newer operating systems with devices containing at least 1 gigabyte of memory also will work, according to the release.
App users also can buy and download professionally-created maps to be stored on their devices. When GPS is available, they can use the maps based on their location. The maps measure distance and area, detect coordinates, open a view in Google maps, plot placemarks, add notes, enter their own data and add photos. Almost 700 Forest Service maps are available through the app.
Users will be able to access live data at areas with Internet availability. The interactive maps should become available starting March 2014.
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