Do-it-Yourself Mapping

"Thank's for the map you sent last week. Can you get me an airphoto of another location downtown?" That's the question I got the other day at work and I was happy to make the map, but along with the new map, I sent the directions for do-it-yourself mapping available for Bemidji and Beltrami County.

Since Google Earth hit the web in 2004, people have been fascinated with zooming around the globe, looking for their house, finding great hunting locations and learning about places on the other side of the world. Teachers use Google Earth in the classroom, businesses use it for marketing; and when we need directions and a map? It's Google Earth that gets us there.

Most of us know about Google Earth, but how many people know about a local online mapping application that is user friendly and has a host of great features and information.

Beltrami County online mapping has several layers (map features like lakes, streets, parcel numbers, etc.) that you can turn on and off; a search feature for finding properties by parcel ID, address, Plat, and more; and an identify feature that gives the names of property owners, number of acres and legal description. You can do linear or area measurements, select areas (highlight them) by drawing a box or radius. And finally, you can create mailing labels and make maps. Here's a map I made in just a minute or so. Our GIS specialist and I get a lot of calls at City Hall asking for air photos and maps. Since Beltrami County put their mapping program online for free (it used to have a subscription fee), we are trying to help people "do-it-yourself." Check out the site, play around a bit and pretty soon you'll be making maps and impressing your friends and relatives.