This is one of those applications of remote sensing and GIS that I have mixed feelings about. As a guy sitting at a computer, it’s pretty cool, being able to get so much information about a location with just a few mouse clicks.

As a guy with the responsibility of managing 33-odd acres on a shoestring*, as well as complying with several conservation grant programs, there could be a little bit of Big Brother going on. While compliance with the terms of the grant aren’t difficult for me (I enjoy working with our local county office), there’s always the fear of a bureaucrat with too much time on his hands throwing paperwork at me from the comfort of his desk.

All that said, though, in a time of dwindling conservation budgets, this would be a real time saver for agencies…relying on ArcMap and aerial photos. Keeps them from spending time in the field, though, which for many of them is their favorite part.

(via eurekalert)

*old farmer’s joke: “If I had a million dollars, I’d farm until it was all gone”

I’ve put together a farm design file, using ArcPublisher. The free ArcReader program can be downloaded from the ESRI website to view the file. Sorry dialup users, its 100megs, and requires registration with ESRI. Time to find a friend with broadband!

Click the link below to download the zipped farm design, extract it (keeping all of the files and folders intact), read the FAQ in the ‘design’ folder, and let me know what you think.

Download zipped ArcReader file (700k)

12 June Update:

By popular request, I’ve uploaded a couple of PDFs of the GIS output, one of the base farm layer, and one with the permaculture/landuse zonation. They are ~1.2mb each.

While they aren’t interactive like the above file, they will save low bandwidth users from computer collapse, and give Mac users something to look at.

Download Basemap (PDF)

Download Land use / Permaculture Zones (PDF)

{Download tip. On big PDFs like these, I usually try to Right Click – Save As to save the file to your computer. There’s less chance of the file causing your computer to hang up. Unless its a Mac, in which case that doesn’t happen.}