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“I can’t get an updated map, this sucks.” Hold on a second there professor, we fixed the glitch. What an incredible time we live in for accessing information, fortunately topographic maps are included in this ease of access. It is a simple process for one to find a topo map of their piece of terrain. A couple of online clicks and the system you are using will render a user-specified high resolution topographic map. Want to show the county boundaries? Too easy. Hide the road names and numbers? They got ya. Heck, sometimes this whole process is completely free depending on which site you use. However, there are a couple of bugaboos that come with convenience - the largest among them being the lack of detail contained in the underlying terrain data set.

The National Map data is maintained by the USGS (US Geological Survey), it is the national repository for mapping data. The National Map (maintained by the USGS National Geospatial Program) is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other federal, state, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the nation. To collect and manage this map data back “in the day” teams of experts would roam the nation and physically measure, check, walk, and map every piece of terrain. The level of detail was truly amazing, but as you can imagine the production time for a series of maps was painfully slow. Map production was usually measured in decades due to the labor-intensive process. This has changed drastically due to terrestrial and space based sensor data that has allowed mapping time periods to cycle much faster. The benefit we have today is the digital map data is no more than three years old. USGS Topo maps are now updated on a three-year cycle with one third of the country updated each year. This does not include topo maps for Alaska which are on a different schedule, but Alaskan mapping has always been the outlier.

From the USGS historical page: The geographic information available from The National Map includes boundaries, elevation, geographic names, hydrography, land cover, orthoimagery, structures, and transportation. The majority of The National Map effort is devoted to acquiring and integrating medium-scale (nominally 1:24,000 scale) geospatial data for the eight base layers from a variety of sources and providing access to the resulting seamless coverages of geospatial data. The National Map also serves as the source of base mapping information for derived cartographic products, including 1:24,000 scale US Topo maps and georeferenced digital files of scanned historic topographic maps. Data sets and products from The National Map are intended for use by government, industry, and academia—focusing on geographic information system (GIS) users—as well as the public, especially in support of recreation activities.

So what?

The USGS no longer does field verification or other primary data collection for some of these feature classes, and there are no national data sources suitable for general-purpose, 1:24,000-scale maps. This is what may surprise some of you - especially if you are accustomed to using “old school” topo maps. If it existed on the ground, the mapmaker found a way to add it to our maps. The water tank and windmill on Mr. Mason’s ranch in the hills outside Calumet? Yep, they were on the map.

Some features us Millennials and Gen X navigators were accustomed to on our topo maps did not transfer to the newer digital processes. There are some significant things missing from new map data that expert navigators grew up using. Examples of these now unmarked features can include recreational trails, pipelines, power lines, survey markers, and many types of buildings. Since US Topo maps are mass produced from national databases, some features shown on traditional maps might never be included on future US Topo maps. For example, a national database of isolated ranch windmills and water tanks (which were on the manually built maps) is unlikely to ever be built. The tall community water towers are a gift to navigation, seeing one off in the distance can save your bacon for a resection/modified resection. Only problem is your new map may not even depict it.

The photos above are 1:24,000 maps of the same terrain, the same scale, the same grid square. On the left is a USGS “historical” map, on the right is a current version. You can see the details that are left off the new US Topo print on the right. No buildings, churches, power lines, or spot elevations. The power line running NW / SE is a great catching feature (and a significant linear danger area (LDA)) but using the new map you would never know it was there until you walked up on it. To mitigate this loss of detail we must use other tools like satellite imagery and aerial photos to augment the new version topo maps.

This isn’t a complaint or “the world has gone to hell” commentary on cartography, I just want to point out some things have changed on our maps that we must be aware of. The 60 year old power line cutting through the forest may not show up on your two year old map - don’t let it throw you when navigating a remote area. Studying your intended area using satellite and aerial photos in conjunction with your map is always advised. Using a historical series map with all the features (USGS still sells these) to augment modern topos can be beneficial, just pay attention to the datum version (more on this later). Traditional topo maps labeled many public buildings and structures such as courthouses, libraries, transportation terminals, and bridges. National public domain digital datasets of these feature classes do not exist, so many are not printed on new topo maps. Many powerlines, oil and gas pipelines, and other energy infrastructure are not shown on new US Topo maps. Digital datasets do not exist and USGS claims there are “security reasons” for not publishing these data. This is not an absolute, there are some of these that are depicted, but they have gone away as a standard set of depicted features.

You will need to rely on historical topo maps and overhead imagery for the location of these features. Some commercial data sets have overlaid some of these features, but I have found them to be spotty at best. Structures (buildings) can be included on some of the commercial mapping sites, but they are not as accurate as they appear. The days of seeing a church depicted as a church and marked First Valley Methodist on a printed topo are long gone. Unique landmark features such as buildings, natural features, isolated monuments, and points of interest are not in the national GIS database. Recreational features such as campgrounds, boat docks, golf courses, etc will never be a high priority for USGS mapping so they may or may not appear on your map. US Forest Service (USFS) specific maps are a bit more detailed, the USFS manually adds details to their area specific maps (trails, unimproved roads, etc). These recreational area Forest Service maps are a bit closer to the level of detail contained in the historical maps and make for great land nav training areas for new navigators.

The takeaway for this week is do not assume all maps are created equal. Sourcing historical series (pre 2006) topo maps through USGS is a “A” way to augment your modern map set (remember keep an eye on the map datum). Be aware terrain features and construction efforts change the ground rapidly, especially in cartographic timelines. The dirt road on your 1998 USGS topo may now be a four lane highway, so it is always best to combine old and new tools (to include imagery) to get the complete picture.

New Manual Title Announcement!

The new CM-6 Citizen Manual, the Citizen Ranger Handbook (CRH) is launching in a couple of weeks. Here is the reveal for the title and subject matter, you are the first to get the word. We are more than excited to get this on the street, it has been a long process to get this one ready - but it turned out amazing.

Before anyone gets their sling rope in a twist this is simply modifying the existing, widely recognized and used Ranger Handbook for somewhat “normal” folks. This is the Ranger Handbook adjusted and modified to apply to the readiness community. First and foremost, this is not misappropriation of the Army Ranger or Ranger qualified title, or implying equivalence to those warfighting professionals. The CRH is simply a modified US Army Ranger Handbook, but like all our other manuals we have adapted it to the Citizen perspective. This manual does not equate the Professional Citizen to the elite fighting men past and present of the Ranger Regiment, it is simply a reference that is generally aligned with the recognizable and often used reference. Just because you use the tactics does not mean you are a Ranger nor should you pretend to be one or LARP your way into a faux tab. This is simply a reference you can use to hone these enhanced infantry skills and become more capable of assisting US military, state, or local law enforcement against occupying threats or counter-US infiltrators. This carries forward the published RHB format, but we have expanded some of the relevant content from the original and eliminated others (air assaults and artillery planning for example). We will announce the launch date in a few days (it will be available sometime in February).

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