Barb Gibson, Vilas County GIS coordinator/land information officer, announced the receipt of two awards for Vilas County Mapping. “On January 24, 2013,” Gibson noted, “as part of the Map Poster Contest at the 64th Annual Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors Institute (WSLS) in Wisconsin Dells, the Vilas County Index Parcel Map – Section 11, Town 39, Range 10 was presented with the second place award in the Miscellaneous Map Category. There were nine entries in this category. This contest was judged by a volunteer panel of professional land surveyors.”

“Additionally,” stated Gibson, “on February 15, 2013, the same map was presented with the First Place-Best in Category award in the Base Map Category in the Map Poster Contest at the 26th Annual Wisconsin Land Information Association (WLIA) Annual Conference in Lake Geneva. There were five entries in this category. This contest was judged by a volunteer panel of land information professionals.”

The GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Parcel Index Maps were redesigned and developed by Adam Grassl, Vilas County GIS analyst, in coordination with Tony Jones, Vilas County parcel mapping/surveyor specialist, who is also a Wisconsin Registered Land Surveyor (RLS). The primary goal of redesigning the parcel maps was to develop concise base map data for use in generating quality multi-purpose map products, designed for government and public consumption, which could be efficiently and cost effectively produced.

“The parcel map data is the driving force behind redesigning the parcel maps. Compressing the 43 layers of legacy data into nine layers of GIS data makes the data smarter and work harder for Vilas County. Developing smarter data has allowed the Land Information/Mapping Department staff to increase productivity resulting in providing additional services without increasing operational expenses,” said Gibson.

According to the Wisconsin Statutes 59.72(4)(b), in order for fees collected from the register of deeds to be retained for land information system modernization projects, Vilas County is required to design, develop and implement a land information system and to make public records accessible on the Internet.
Legacy data was originally created and maintained for the single purpose of parcel mapping. As new technology has developed and the state statutes concerning the Wisconsin Land Information Program have evolved, it is necessary to modernize the map production process to produce multi-purpose GIS data. The results of the multi-purpose data allowed the Land Information/Mapping staff to efficiently create map products for diverse applications, such as the Vilas County Online Map Portal, Vilas County Platbook, 911 dispatch mapping service, emergency management/search and rescue, district attorney’s office, public health, county surveyor/public land survey system, highway maintenance, invasive species monitoring, forestry inventory/production, recreation facilities, tourism, land and water conservation, zoning, information technologies, census, economic development, redistricting, lake districts and associations, property ownership/tax collection and custom public uses.

Gibson also noted that the base map data is accessible via the Vilas County Online Map Portal using the following link: vcgis.co.vilas.wi.us/webdocs/mapportal.htm and is compatible with most personal computers. The Vilas County Index Parcel Maps are also accessible to the public in .pdf format through the Vilas County Online Map Portal using the same link as above.

For more information or assistance with the map portal, contact the Vilas County Mapping Department at (715) 479-3655.