Council Policy Statements

As part of its mission to coordinate GIS in Minnesota, and in accordance with its responsibilities, the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information has issued policy statements on a number of GIS-related initiatives. The record of earlier policy statements is incomplete.

To request a letter from the Council, go to the Request Assistance from the Council webpage.

2007  |  2006  |  2005  |  2004  |  2003  |  2002  |  2001  |  2000  |  1995
 

2007

• Structures Collaborative CAP grant
  Support for the Land Management Information Center's application for a Cooperative Agreements Program grant, "Minnesota Structures Collaborative -- An Initiative to Support the National Map and NSDI."
  • Letter (December 17, 2007)
  • Grant awarded (see Category 5 section)
   
• Land Management Information Center budget
  Communication of LMIC's value in response to the Governor's budget cut proposal.
  • Letter of support (March 23, 2007)
  • Letter of appreciation (September 4, 2007)
   
• Red River Basin Mapping Initiative
  Support for a proposed International Water Institute project to collect high-resolution elevation data for the U.S. portion of the Red River Basin.
  • Letter of support (February 28, 2007)
     
• 1000 Friends of Minnesota
  Recognition of this non-profit organization as an important contributor to the Council’s coordination efforts.
  • Letter of recognition (February 21, 2007)
     
• Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System
  Support for full funding of the NDGPS and planned enhancements to the system.
  • Letter of support (February 9, 2007)
     

2006

• State Plane Coordinates
  Request to the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) to publish State Plane Coordinates in both meters and U.S. Survey feet.
  • Letter of support (November 30, 2006)
  • Background information
     
• Imagery for the Nation proposal
  The vision of this proposal, promoted by the National States Geographic Information Council, is that the United States will have a sustainable and flexible digital imagery program that meets the needs of local, state, regional, tribal and federal agencies.
  • Letter of support (August 10, 2006)
  • More information about the proposal
     
• Enterprise Strategy CAP grant
  Support for the council's application for a Cooperative Agreements Program planning grant, "Implementing an Enterprise Strategy for Minnesota's Spatial Data Infrastructure."
  • Letter (January 30, 2006)
  • Project description and interim report
     
• Local Government Web Application Initiative CAP grant (OpenMNND Project)
  Support for the Community GIS Technical Committee's application for a Cooperative Agreements Program grant, "Local Government Open Source Web Application Initiative."
  • Letter (January 30, 2006)
  • OpenMNND website: information about the project's progress
     
• Coordination with Minnesota's Office of Enterprise Technology
  A letter to Gopal Khanna, Minnesota's Chief Information Officer, summarized the GIS community’s existing cooperative efforts and suggested further ways to coordinate efforts with the new Office of Enterprise Technology.
  • Letter (January 4, 2006)
     

2005

• Community GIS Technical Committee CAP Grant
  Support for the Community GIS Technical Committee's application for a Cooperative Agreements Program coordination grant; CGISTC was formed to promote GIS coordination in the southern Red River Basin.
  • Letter of support (June 10, 2005)
     
• Land Management Information Center budget
  Communication of LMIC's value in response to the Governor's budget cut proposal.
  • Letter of support (February 18, 2005)
  • Letter of appreciation (August 15, 2005)
     

2004

• Cooperating Technical Partnership with FEMA
  Endorsement of Minnesota’s participation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a Cooperating Technical Partner and recommendation that the Governor authorize the Department of Natural Resources to be Minnesota’s representative for this purpose.
  • Letter of support (February 19, 2004)
  • Formal resolution
  • A White Paper on Developing a High-Resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Floodplain Mapping Program
  • About the Cooperating Technical Partner program  and the benefits of becoming a CTP
     

2003

• Geography and GIS component of proposed state social studies standards
  Endorsement of the current draft of Minnesota's Social Studies Standard with its emphasis on geographic education and technology, including the provision that high school geography students "use Geographic Information Systems to answer geographic questions at a variety of scales from local to global."
  • Letter of support (October 29, 2003)
  • Follow-up letters to State Senator Kelley and State Representative Sykora (February 19, 2004)
  • Minnesota Academic Standards in Social Studies (PDF): see pages 42-54 for Geography section
  • More information from the Minnesota Department of Education
     
• Council reauthorization
  Council members recommended that Governor Pawlenty reauthorize the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Geographic Information through a new executive order so that the council may continue its work on behalf of the state of Minnesota.
  • Resolution (January 16, 2003)
     

2002

• Data infrastructure to support public safety
  This white paper calls on Congress to fund state and local government to build the databases needed to support public safety and homeland security. This includes ortho-imagery, street centerlines, parcel data, significant natural features, critical infrastructure, and hazardous materials. The document was developed by the National States Geographic Information Council and Al Leidner of the New York City GIS Utility, and Minnesota was the first state to sign it.
  • White paper: Saving Lives and Saving Money; An Urgent Call to Build the National Spatial Data Infrastructure in Support of Public Safety:  A declaration of interdependence (Minnesota signed September 18, 2002)
  • More information about NSGIC and the white paper
     

2001

• The National Map
  The council provided detailed feedback to the U.S. Geological Survey on its plans to implement The National Map.
  • Comments letter (June 28, 2001)
  • The National Map website
     

2000

• USGS cost-share mapping activities
  The council supported restoring full funding to USGS's Mapping Data Collection and Integration activities.
  • Letter of support (May 15, 2000)
     

1995

• USGS core mission
  Responding to a proposal to abolish the U.S. Geological Survey, the council supported USGS's coordination, program development, and scientific information gathering and distributing missions.
  • Letter of support (April 14, 1995)