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Park Ranger’s off hours work results in ability to browse more than 1,000 National Park Maps from one site

Via CityLab – “Map addicts, you’ve been warned: A park ranger has been diligently uploading maps from hundreds of America’s national parks for the enjoyment, education and convenience of all. According to npmaps.com, some 1,053 high-resolution national park maps are available to view, save, and download for free. The site is not officially affiliated with the National Park Service, on whose vast and multifaceted web presence many of these maps also appear. Rather, it is a way to consolidate and organize the agency’s valuable cartographic resources, which represent some of the finest American mapmaking of the past century.  Matt Holly, a ranger with the NPS’ Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate in Colorado, launched the website during the government shutdown of 2013, according to a recent interview with National Parks Traveler. He’s been updating gradually ever since, and as of last month had uploaded maps from about 100 of the country’s 411 national park units. Besides general park maps, the library includes trail maps, camping maps, nautical charts, guides to local geology and archeology, and more—all of them in the public domain. For each map, Holly removes excess text and branding, buffs up the image quality, and writes lively descriptions…”

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