Mapping a New Future
by MacKenzie Rawcliffe
What goes into making a map? And how important is it who makes it? According to Roger Merchant, with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, a lot. He recently finished working with a diverse group of organizations who collaborated over the course of two years to create the “Southern Piscataquis Outdoor Recreation Map”. Together with the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council and the Appalachian Mountain Club, he and the Cooperative Extension created a detailed, accurate and informative map of an area extending from Katahdin to Dexter, with all points in between. This information product does not only include the beautiful hikes and rivers that the area is famous for, but also the places that are important to the communities and the people who live there.
The idea for this map developed out of review of the information available on the area. It found that there were a lot of attractive features, but that the information on them was very piece meal and needed to be organized in way that visitors could use. After about six months of casual discussion the three unlikely partners decided that this was an “information product who’s time had come” says Merchant. When they began they had a lot of leadership capacity and a base of information sources to draw from, but they did not have any funding. Deciding to go ahead any way was daring but ultimately paid off as other organizations saw the value in what they were trying to accomplish. In the end they received funding from groups like the Maine Community Foundation, the Mayo Regional Hospital and the Maine Healthy Communities program.
After consulting the Maine Bureau of Public Lands and tapping local knowledge through surveys and discussion groups, they combined the information with fieldwork done by the Appalachian Mountain Club’s staff cartographer. After an exhaustive process of checking and verifying information, they designed a map that includes river walks, hikes, parks, demonstration forests, lakes, rivers, mountains and historical sites. On the back of each map there is a wealth of interpretive information on easier paddling and hikes, local history, safety, leave no trace guidelines and the working forest landscape. They also included recommended further reading for those that wanted more detailed maps and explanations of paddling and hiking in the area. All of this is available to visitors and locals for only $4.50. All profits will go back into reprinting revising efforts. Reprinting may be needed soon as 400 maps out of 2,000 have been sold after a little over two months.
For others interested in creating a community map of any kind Merchant recommends taking an inventory of the existing base of information available and then evaluating how visitors are currently getting their information. “Ask yourself, is there a gap to be filled?” The next important step is to get the right people around the table, in Piscataquis Merchant attributes much of their success to a shared interest in place, the environment and the people. Having access to a cartographer and financial resources is important but without strong leadership and local knowledge Merchant doubts that a quality product will be produced.
The Piscataquis County Outdoor Recreation Map is available at the Indian Hill store, Trafton’s Store and Mr. Paperback.