I recently received communication from Garmin asking if they could use some of the information I have collected on canoe country campsites.  I pointed out the BWCA I had came from Peter Berbee, which they had not been able to track down.  But it got me to thinking.

Berbee's BWCA campsite data is over 10 years old.  back many years ago, I asked the forest service if they had publically available GPS data on BWCA campsite and they said no.  I got the impression from their answer that they did not have publically available data because they did not have the data period.  But that was years ago.  hey have to keep track of their campsites in BWCA, right?  Surely by now, they have a listing of the GPS location of all their campsites.  I would think so, but if that is the case, why have they not made that list public?

Anybody got any insight into this issue.  I would not know who to ask in the Forest service about this topic.

azalea wrote on Jan 15^th, 2011 at 5:21am:

...why have they not made that list public?

First guess - highest bidder.
Second, lawsuit.

No clue. Just being cynical.

Why they're not public may relate to the spirit of BW/Q?  Since there are no designated sites and trippers are not required/expected to set a route & stick to it.  Unlike places like Massasauga which have site-specific reservations or APP which has lake-specific reservations, BW/Q only requires the in/out dates & a loose framework of a route for SAR purposes.

The ON MNR is quite protective of their records and the records are fragmented across departments.  I've spoken with Jeff who makes the best   (You need to Login or Register and he has had some Access To Information roadblocks.  Some are intentional, but others are simply because the MNR knows they have the data - just no idea where it is.

If the data is known, then FoIA/AtI should cover the ability to get it.

I think Azalea was talking about the BWCA, which has designated camp sites.  Although they are moved and closed by the rangers at time due to overuse, most are located in the same spot as they have been for decades.  You could call a ranger station and inquire about GPS points, but I doubt they have them catalogued as such.

Another possible source, though I imagine they would want proper compensation for it (read lots of money), might be the folks at Voyageur Maps.  They supposedly walked every portage with GPS or hand wheel when signal was unavailable, and located every camp site with GPS as well.  Per their web site:

You can reach Voyageur Maps by email at info@voyageurmaps.com.   We can be reached by telephone at 612-518-7580.

I would personally be opposed to the idea of Campsite Database or similar info being made availble on any GPS. While technology can be helpful, this info is already available and I see no good reason to increase it's scope.

This would only lead to further degradation of already overused sites, as the natural tendancy will be to make a beeline for known '5-star' sites. By not incorporating this into GPS software, those who do not have this info will be forced into camping whereever they find a site, thus spreading the impact.

NO!!!  >:(

Quote:

I would personally be opposed to the idea of Campsite Database or similar info being made availble on any GPS.

My question was not about a "Campsite database" as in the PCD, just a listing of the campsite GPS locations. This is not a quest to increase the scope of the data, just to get the data in another form (that would be more convenient to some of us) and possibly more accurate data (as it would have the latest uptodate info on locations).  

Go ahead. :)