Routt County Community Mapping

The Routt County Community Mapping Team is a group of teens that utilized GPS (Global Positioning System) to mark points, then downloaded the data into the ArcView, a GIS (Geographical Information Systems). They collected data on noxious weeds. The first project they mapped weeds at Elk Head State Park. This technology was made possible by grants from, ESRI, The Orton Family Foundation, USDA Rural Youth Development grant, and the El Pomar Foundation. The Routt County 4-H Community Mapping Team traveled to St. Louis Mo. and presented their project at the National 4-H Technology Conference.

Flowchart to Completing a Project

The Seven steps to creating a 4-H mapping project. Community mapping teaches technology to youth, while they provided a service to their partner.

Mapping Russian Olive at Elkhead State Park

The goal of the team was to map Tamarisk and Russian Olive at Elkhead State Park. As good luck would have it they located no Tamarisk, however, several Russian Olive trees. They then downloaded those points into a computer, and using GIS technologies overlayed an aerial photograph to show the locations

The Youth Team

Our team consisted of 6 youth and 4 adults. Members were Andy Morell, Tyler Manzanares, Cass Sisto, Emily Hallenbeck, Spencer Sisto, and Jennifer Epp. Volunteer leaders were Jay Whaley (4-H Agent), Mo Valenta (GIS Expert), Matt Custer (Routt County Weed Control), and Leisha Epp (Technology Volunteer)