Year of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Geography

Department or School/College

Department of Geography

Committee Chair

Paul B. Wilson

Commitee Members

James Burfeind, Sarah Halvorson

Keywords

disaster, disaster cycle, hazard, man made disaster, mitigation, natural disaster, pre-disaster mitigation plan, vulnerability

Abstract

The Montana Critical Infrastructure GIS Committee, on behalf of the Montana Department of Administration, has been involved for several years in concentrated efforts to make various types of map products available to those involved in emergency management throughout the state. As a component of this process, the Committee authorized funding for a project devoted to the development of standardized map products for pre-disaster mitigation (PDM) plans during the spring of 2006, and the research was completed later that year. The requirement for the development of these plans was established by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. In Montana, implementation of this legislation has taken place at the county and Indian reservation levels of government. The scope of the research conducted was divided into several components. First, various goals were established in order to provide a general sequence of events for the work. These began with identifying any cartographic requirements established by law and included decisions regarding the actual map construction and techniques for describing the processes utilized. Similarly, assumptions regarding software and other issues were made. Numerous experts in the areas of natural and man-made hazards, emergency management, and other fields were contacted in order to identify those cartographic products that would be most useful. The overall mapmaking process was established, map templates were constructed, and detailed instructions were compiled for use by others. The results of this research compiled in a report and submitted to the GIS Committee in November of 2006. This thesis represents the further development of the results of that research.

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© Copyright 2007 Bruce Albert Koerner