South Dakota Game and Fish - Offering Free Public Lands GPS Mapping Program

August 05, 2009 by UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

PIERRE, S.D.  South Dakota has millions of acres of lands open to the public, and a new option to locate those areas is being offered by the Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Rather than relying solely on maps or the South Dakota Public Walk-In Atlas, the department has added a Global Positioning System program to its website. Outdoor enthusiasts can use the free program to download maps of public lands onto their GPS units at no charge. Those lands are owned by federal and state governments or leased from private landowners. "Maps and the atlas can help find them, but at times people are uncertain of the exact locations, said Jeff Vonk, GFP secretary. "I think it is important for us to provide the best available information to sportsmen and women," Vonk said. "We will continue to offer the paper atlas, but I believe that providing the GPS information will make it easier and more convenient for sportsmen to participate in outdoor activities." The website can be accessed at www.sdgfp.info/wildlife/gps/index.asp. The program provides downloadable files for Garmin, Lowrance and Magellan GPS units. Although it won't work on some of the older models, most models with memory cards or internal memories should readily accept the files. The Web page has step-by-step video instructions on how to download the public lands maps onto GPS units. "Last year we unveiled the interactive "WILMA" map on our website, and it is very popular with hunters," Vonk said. 'We received a lot of requests asking if that information could be loaded onto a GPS unit. I took those requests to our staff and asked if it was possible. It is that important. As far as I know, we are the only state providing this information." The new Web address also provides updates so people using the maps will be able to keep current with changing Walk-In and Game Production Areas. "We ask visitors for e-mail addresses so we can notify them when there are changes to Walk-In Areas and GPAs," said Department GIS specialist Chris Marsh. "Those people can simply download the new maps. From year to year or even month to month, some areas can change dramatically, and we want folks to know about those changes," Marsh added.