The Governor of Nevada established the State Mapping Advisory Committee (SMAC) in 1983 to advise the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on state priorities for map products and to inform maps users about the status of mapping programs and the availability of map products. The Governor named the Director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology as the chair of SMAC. SMAC generally meets annually.

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), on November 6, 2000, formally recognized the Nevada State Mapping Advisory Committee as the Nevada Regional Cooperating Group in support of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) program.

OPEN MEMBERSHIP

Membership in SMAC and its subcommittees is open to anyone interested in mapping in Nevada. Two subcommittees are currently active -- one for geographic information systems (GIS) and one for geologic mapping. Participants have included representatives of numerous local, state, and federal agencies, community colleges and universities, and the private sector. Individuals or organizations interested in participating and getting on the mailing list for future meetings of SMAC should contact:

James E. Faulds, Chairman, State Mapping Advisory Committee
Director/State Geologist
Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
University of Nevada, Reno/MS 178
Reno, NV 89557-0088

fax: 775-784-1709
e-mail: jfaulds@unr.edu

or

Jennifer Mauldin, Executive Secretary, State Mapping Advisory Committee
Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
University of Nevada, Reno/MS 178
Reno, NV 89557-0088

telephone: 775-682-8759
fax: 775-784-1709
e-mail: mauldin@unr.edu

In its early years SMAC advised the USGS on priorities for completion of 1:24,000-scale, 7.5-minute topographic maps throughout the state. With all these maps having been printed by about 1990 and with development of digital maps and GIS, SMAC has evolved. The USGS no longer explicitly seeks the advice of the state with regard to its mapping priorities but does request input from bureaus within the U.S. Department of Interior. SMAC now serves as a forum for discussion and coordination of state, local, and federal agency and private sector priorities for mapping. Generally a consensus on priorities is reached during an annual meeting. This consensus is forwarded to Department of Interior bureaus. Since 1997 SMAC's top priorities have been met, with approximately $6 million in Federal and $700,000 in State and local support in acquiring new digital map and image products throughout Nevada.

USGS GeoPDF maps for Nevada letter

Inventory of LiDAR and other high resolution data for Nevada

State Mapping Advisory Committee 2006 resolution of support for Imagery for the Nation initiative

Minutes of Previous Meetings

1996
1997
1998
April 1999
December 1999
November 2000
March 2002
January 2003
December 2003
April 2004
March 2005
October 2005
November 2006
May 2007
May 2008
June 2010
May 2011
May 2012

GIS SUBCOMMITTEE AND THE NEVADA GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SOCIETY

SMAC created a GIS Subcommittee, which organized the first few annual State GIS Conferences. These conferences have alternated between Las Vegas and Carson City-Reno and have brought GIS technicians and users, managers and program directors, vendors, national technological leaders, and politicians together to exchange information, report on progress and data availability, and discuss future directions in information systems and services. The GIS Subcommittee spawned a non-profit educational organization, the Nevada Geographic Information Society, which now handles the conferences.

The GIS Subcommittee will be meeting to decide how to proceed with a clearinghouse for geographic information in Nevada. In the meantime, links to Web sites of organizations that provide geographic information and GIS data can be found at http://keck-nbmg.opendata.arcgis.com/. Representatives of state agencies are also meeting to discuss statewide efforts of coordination of GIS. The GIS Subcommittee will be interacting with this state agency effort.

GEOLOGIC MAPPING SUBCOMMITTEE

In 1992, with passage of the National Geologic Mapping Act and formation of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, SMAC established a Geologic Mapping Subcommittee. This committee, which meets when necessary, advises the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology on priorities for geologic mapping. Members of the Advisory Committee for the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology are encouraged to participate in the Geologic Mapping Subcommittee, whose membership is open to anyone interested in geologic mapping in Nevada. In recent years numerous maps have been produced from the STATEMAP and EDMAP components of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, those parts of the program that make federal dollars available on a competitive basis for matching from state geological surveys and universities. The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, which is the state geological survey and a research and public service unit of the University and Community College System of Nevada, has successfully competed in this program since its inception. The Geoscience Department at UNLV has participated in the EDMAP component.

Minutes of Geologic Mapping Subcommittee Meetings

August 20, 2001
August 13, 2002
August 4, 2003
August 11, 2004
August 10, 2005
August 16, 2006
August 15, 2007

Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Nevada State Geological Survey at the University of Nevada, Reno
NBMG Maps & Data page, includes links to downloadable maps and data, web maps, and other resources
Virtual Clearinghouse of Nevada Geographic Information
W.M. Keck Earth Science & Mining Information Center, a digital map data depository for Nevada.
Nevada Board of Geographic Names
State of Nevada
National Geologic Map Database (NGMDB), a nationwide index to geologic maps and ongoing Statemap-supported geologic mapping projects.