Exploring forest history in Columbia County: An invitation for participatory research

  • charcoal pit map

Newly available aerial images (LiDAR=Light Detection and Ranging), which "look through vegetation" and depict the underlying topography, have opened a new window onto forest history in Columbia County. On this new website, Conrad tells the fascinating story of charcoaling in our forests, shares the location of remotely mapped charcoal pits (much of the mapping was done by Otter Vispo), and invites your participation in verifying the charcoal pits in your neighborhood.

Lucas Braun, who is working on his Masters in Geospatial Technologies in Germany, took this a step further and kindly created a zoomable version of the charcoal pit map. With his coaching, we also created a web app that can help you find and comment on pits in the field. Thank you, Lucas, for your spontaneous contribution to this project!