GPS Resources

Handheld GPS receivers are a great resource for landowners, natural resource professionals, and other outdoor recreationalists.

Current handheld GPS units are sturdy, waterproof, accurate (plus or minus 15 feet), and can be used for marking hunting locations, structures, streams, your vehicle location, as well as for fun activities such as geocaching. They utilize satellites circling the earth so they can be used anywhere outside, unlike GPS on a cell phone that requires a cell phone signal. Professional natural resource managers can save valuable field time by using GPS with a computer to locate inventory plots, access roads, outlining timber sale and property boundaries, directing customers to sale locations, and much more.

The University of Maryland Extension offered workshops in Beginner GPS from 2006 to 2015 to teach those interested in learning how to use GPS handheld receivers, how to utilize with a computer, and  specific applications to forestry and logging uses. The workshop utilized Garmin GPS MAP76CSx units for each participant as well as a laptop computer. The daylong workshops used both classroom and field instruction.

The workshops covered the basics of using a GPS receiver, as well as: marking waypoints, creating routes, entering and finding coordinates, determining acreage of a site, incorporating coordinates into timber sale bids, locating roads, stream crossings, points of interest, downloading and uploading data to a computer (laptops provided), computer software options, and comparing different GPS handheld units.

A second one-day workshop provided an orientation to the use of Terrain Navigator (TN) software that provided USGS topographic maps on CD-ROM. TN is now available through online subscription over the internet. Using TN you can create GPS waypoints, routes and tracks; transfer them to a GPS unit; download GPS information taken in the field; and create an individualized computer map of the area you are working. The information is very useful for natural resource professionals and landowners as well.

Separate instructional manuals with screenshots and activities are still available based on the Garmin GPS MAP76CSx unit. The GPS technology has advanced since the course was active but the newer Garmin units such as the Garmin GPSMap64x have similar functions to the GPS MAP76CSx and the manuals can be adapted with some interpretation. Other makes has similar functions as well, for example, waypoints, tracks and routes. No courses are offered at this time but the resources are still posted for public access.

Available software that integrates with handheld GPS units continues to improve and subscriptions for service are common, rather than CD-ROM. A short list of software is provided below.