For the past six months, Snohomish County native Kristina Rose has been meticulously updating the government’s geospatial data on special rivers around the nation.
It’s a job that fascinates her, but on the surface, sounds a bit boring. The data is mostly used by government agencies.
“For the most part, the public doesn’t care about geospatial data, because they’re not using it,” she said.
But people do care about rivers. And they do love pretty photos.
Rose, a Geographic Information Systems technician intern, is working for AmeriCorps and the National Park Service to create up-to-date maps of the 3,400 river segments in the Nationwide Rivers Inventory. The NRI is a list of rivers around the nation with important ecological or cultural values. The government is mandated to make efforts to protect these rivers.
Rose is asking people to send her photos of the rivers on the NRI, so she can create an online, interactive map. People will be able to click on a river, see photos and read a description of the river. And there will be photo galleries with even more photos of the rivers. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.
The NRI is maintained by the National Park Service, which turns 100 in August 2016. Rose’s efforts to create an interactive map are part of the NPS’ centennial celebrations.
The NRI data and descriptions were first created in the 1980s by “guys hanging out of helicopters,” Rose said. Then in the 1990s, the geospatial data was digitized. That had not been updated until Rose started work on it about six months ago.
Much of the information was wrong, either because rivers had moved or because the original data was inaccurate.
Rose has updated the river map using the most current information from the U.S. Geological Survey.
“I’ve mapped some in Alaska that were 40 miles off. The data was wrong plus the rivers are changing so much, especially in Alaska,” Rose said.
Rose hopes her work and the photos get people excited about rivers.
“I think a lot of people don’t know the NRI exists and a lot of time these rivers are right in people’s backyard,” she said. “I think people don’t realize how close to home it is.”
Get involved
Kristina Rose is looking for any photos of NRI rivers, particularly photos with people in them. If you’d like to contribute a photo, send it to Kristina Rose at kristina_rose@partner.nps.gov. * Include a digital version of the image, the name of the photographer, the name of the river and, if you have it, precise location data for the image. Rose will accept photos for three months.
To see which rivers are included in the Nationwide Rivers Inventory, and learn more about the program, go to http://1.usa.gov/1mokwKe. Some of the rivers in our area include South Fork Sauk River, White Chuck River, North and South Fork Stillaguamish River, Boulder River, Beckler River, North and South Fork Skykomish River and Troublesome Creek.
Correction: Dec. 29, 2015: This article originally included an incorrect email address.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
