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Lake County Forest Preserves now uses digital mapping

There was a time when the glove compartment of every car was crammed with tattered maps used to plan and trace routes during a trip. Now, most people rely on their phones and GPS navigation apps, such as Google Maps or Waze, to help them find their destination.

Similarly, the Lake County Forest Preserves has switched from using paper maps to a mapping technique that involves technology much like a phone's navigation app. The digital mapping method, known as geographic information system, or GIS, provides a way to capture, store and present spatial or geographic data.

The system allows the forest preserves to share real-time information with the public about flooded trails, the location of a controlled burn, or the beach status at Independence Grove in Libertyville. GIS also allows staff to efficiently track and analyze a variety of information, from floodplain acreage to wildlife populations, to tree branches that may be hazardous or blocking a trail.

Layers of the land

GIS is growing in popularity across the country, utilized in nearly every industry and tailored to the needs of the user.

“This mapping system provides an efficient way to share locational information and data,” said Nick Spittlemeister, Lake County Forest Preserve GIS analyst. “One of the newest features utilizing GIS is our Interactive Trail Map, which provides information to those planning an outing to the preserves.”

A video demonstration at LCFPD.org/maps explains what the map has to offer and how to use it. Users can locate preserves, parking areas, trails, activities and amenities. With a simple click on the map, detailed descriptions are given about each trail, including surface type, distance and regional trail connections. From biking to horseback riding, users can quickly navigate what is offered at each preserve.

Using GPS on their phones, preserve visitors can use the Interactive Trail Map to pinpoint their exact location within the preserves.

This feature comes in handy when biking or walking on preserve trails, as there are often several route options to choose. Gaining popularity over the past year, the map was used, on average, 230 times a day.

In designing and maintaining the Interactive Trail Map, Spittlemeister explains that each component or feature of the map is a layer.

“Conceptually, a layer is a slice of the geographic area and is equivalent to a legend item on a paper map. The Interactive Trail Map has 40 layers, including preserve boundaries, trail systems, toilets, fishing piers, playgrounds, and parking lots, to name a few.”

Safety side

Because the Interactive trail map is digital, it can be updated on the fly from anywhere. For example, all forest preserve ranger police are equipped with an app on their phones that enables them to immediately update the Interactive Trail Map.

“We use the app to collect and report information, such as flooded underpasses,” Ranger Police Sergeant Mike Anderson said. “This allows us to quickly communicate updates to public users looking at our maps on their phone, tablet or computer.”

In the past, ranger police had to return to the office to report and manually record the information.

“The way we do it now saves time, and information is updated instantaneously,” Anderson said.

GIS mapping also improves public safety.

“When someone calls in an emergency to 911, or if we have a lost or missing person and know the phone number, dispatchers can get the coordinates of the cellphone,” Anderson said.

Ranger police can enter the coordinates into their app and are directed to that area.

Sky is the limit

“Beginning last spring, our operations staff began using mobile GIS as well. They often use it to track trees that are potentially dangerous to trail users,” said John Nelson, director of operations and infrastructure.

If there is a large branch blocking a trail, an employee can mark it using the app and submit a picture. Staff then know exactly where the tree is and what type of equipment is needed to clear the trail.

“Our crews saw the benefit of this technology right away,” Nelson said. “The biggest advantage is the time we save responding to issues.”

Field staff also track nearly 500 preserve benches. If a bench needs repair, it is photographed and tracked instantly. The same is true for the roughly 6,000 signs placed in preserves throughout the county.

“In addition to using GIS as a key communications tool, we also store, analyze and manage geographical data,” Manager of Landscape Ecology Leslie Berns said. “We use the system to plan controlled buns in the preserves.”

With just a few clicks of the mouse, she can review the history of burns for a specific area, determine burn frequency intervals and compare those details to changes in vegetation.

Mapping and monitoring wildlife are other tasks that staff tackle with this innovative technology.

“With two wildlife ecologists and a handful of field technicians, the app makes it more manageable for us to record abnormal animal sightings and general wildlife observations, including birds, butterflies, fish, mammals, and reptiles, across nearly 31,000 acres of forest preserve land,” Wildlife Ecologist Andrew Rutter said.

“We continue to develop new ways to utilize GIS,” Nelson said. “The sky is the limit as to what type of information it can be used for in the future.”

• Kim Mikus is a communications specialist for the Lake County Forest Preserves. She writes a bimonthly column about various aspects of the preserves. Contact her with ideas or questions at kmikuscroke@LCFPD.org. Connect with the Lake County Forest Preserves on social media @LCFPD.

Each component or feature of the Interactive Trail Map is a layer, which is equivalent to a legend item on a paper map. Courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserves
Digital mapping is used to monitor and analyze flooding across Lake County, including here at Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve in Wadsworth in 2017. Courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserves
GIS technology is used to analyze and manage geographical data, including planning for controlled burns. Courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserves

Where water goes

Digital mapping is now used to monitor and analyze widespread flooding across the county. In summer 2017, the Lake County Emergency Management Department created a flood event viewer map of the deluge that took place over two days of torrential rain.

Aerial photographs from the Civil Air Patrol, drone photography and videos, along with images taken at ground level, were added to the map to document areas hit most severely by the heavy rains of July 11 and 12, which led to flash flooding in several Lake County communities.

While damage to businesses and homes was devastating, it could have been much worse. During that storm event, forest preserves did their job, storing and filtering millions of gallons of floodwater and mitigating damage. In fact, more than 50 percent of the flooding in the Des Plaines River watershed was on land managed by the Lake County Forest Preserves. There are 57,141 acres of floodplain in Lake County, and 10,262 acres are in forest preserves.

Forest Preserve operations staff and ranger police utilize GIS to track areas of flooding and trail washouts. This, in turn, helps Forest Preserve planners and engineers improve the design of trails and alleviate problem sections by installing additional culverts or boardwalks.

Forest Preserve ecologists also use GIS to analyze how flooded areas adjacent to rivers affect threatened and endangered plant species. Restoration Ecologist Ken Klick used GIS to track elevation of floodwaters on a daily basis during the 2017 flood to monitor how many days endangered native wildflowers, such as the eastern prairie fringed orchid, were under water. These data were used to develop efforts to reestablish the flower.

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