National Land Parcel Data
A Vision for the Future
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the Department of Commerce / U.S. Census Bureau Award No. YA123-05-SE-0220, Department of Homeland Security Award No. HSHQDC-06-P-00051, Department of Interior / Bureau of Land Management Award No. PAA-03-7087, Environmental Systems Research Institute, and U.S. Geological Survey / Federal Geographic Data Committee Award No. 04HQAG0127. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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Cover: Lower half of the cover shows aerial imagery overlain with parcel boundaries provided courtesy of Delaware County, Ohio. Cover design by Michael Dudzik.
Copyright 2007 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
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COMMITTEE ON LAND PARCEL DATABASES: A NATIONAL VISION
DAVID J. COWEN, Chair,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
DAVID J. COLEMAN,
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
WILLIAM J. CRAIG,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
CINDY DOMENICO, Boulder County Assessor,
Colorado
SHOREH ELHAMI,
Delaware County Auditor’s Office, Delaware, Ohio
SHELBY JOHNSON,
State of Arkansas, Little Rock
SUSAN MARLOW,
Smart Data Strategies, Inc., Franklin, Tennessee
FRANK ROBERTS,
Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Plummer, Idaho
MICHAEL T. SWARTZ,
First American Flood Data Services, Austin, Texas
NANCY VON MEYER,
Fairview Industries, Pendleton, South Carolina
National Research Council Staff
ANN G. FRAZIER, Study Director
JARED P. ENO, Research Associate (from August 2006)
AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Senior Program Assistant (until August 2006)
MAPPING SCIENCE COMMITTEE
KEITH C. CLARKE, Chair,
University of California, Santa Barbara
ROBERT P. DENARO,
NAVTEQ Corporation, Chicago, Illinois
SHOREH ELHAMI,
Delaware County Auditor’s Office, Delaware, Ohio
HON. JAMES E. GERINGER,
Former Governor of Wyoming, ESRI, Inc., Wheatland, Wyoming
GEORGE F. HEPNER,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
JOHN R. JENSEN,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
NINA S.-N. LAM,
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
LEWIS A. LAPINE,
South Carolina Geodetic Survey, Columbia
MARY L. LARSGAARD,
University of California, Santa Barbara
XAVIER R. LOPEZ,
Oracle Corporation, Nashua, New Hampshire
ROBERT B. MCMASTER,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
SHASHI SHEKHAR,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
NANCY TOSTA,
Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd., Seattle, Washington
EUGENE TROBIA,
Arizona State Land Department, Phoenix
National Research Council Staff
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
JARED P. ENO, Research Associate
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
GREGORY B. BAECHER,
University of Maryland, College Park
STEVEN R. BOHLEN,
Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
KEITH C. CLARKE,
University of California, Santa Barbara
DAVID J. COWEN,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
WILLIAM E. DIETRICH,
University of California, Berkeley
ROGER M. DOWNS,
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
JEFF DOZIER,
University of California, Santa Barbara
KATHERINE H. FREEMAN,
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
RHEA L. GRAHAM,
Pueblo of Sandia, Bernalillo, New Mexico
RUSSELL J. HEMLEY,
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
MURRAY W. HITZMAN,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden
V. RAMA MURTHY,
University of Minnesota (retired), Minneapolis
CLAYTON R. NICHOLS,
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (retired), Standpoint
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
BARBARA A. ROMANOWICZ,
University of California, Berkeley
JOAQUIN RUIZ,
University of Arizona, Tucson
MARK SCHAEFER,
Global Environment and Technology Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
WILLIAM W. SHILTS,
Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign
RUSSELL E. STANDS-OVER-BULL,
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Billings, Montana
TERRY C. WALLACE, JR.,
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
THOMAS J. WILBANKS,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Senior Program Officer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
ANN G. FRAZIER, Program Officer
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Program Officer
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Associate Program Officer
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative and Financial Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Financial Associate
JARED P. ENO, Research Associate
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Research Associate
TONYA E. FONG YEE, Program Assistant
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Richard R. Almy, Almy, Gloudemans, Jacobs and Denne, La Grange Highlands, Illinois
Nicholas Chrisman, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
David D. Claypool, Ramsey County, Arden Hills, Minnesota
Stewart Kirkpatrick, State of Montana, Helena
John J. Moeller, Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Chantilly, Virginia
D. David Moyer, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Scott Oppmann, Oakland County, Pontiac, Michigan
Gary Waters, GeoFields, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia
Ian Williamson, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Michael F. Goodchild, University of California, Santa Barbara. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
Land ownership has been critical to the economic and philosophical development of the United States. Land parcel databases, which are also known as cadastres, describe the rights, interests, and value of property. These databases represent the distribution of the real property assets of a community and its ownership, form the basis for all land use and zoning decisions, and represent the location of residences, businesses, and public lands. In other words, almost every aspect of government and business can be associated with a land parcel.
In 1980, the National Research Council (NRC) issued a report titled Need for a Multipurpose Cadastre, which became, and still is, a guidebook for land parcel data systems throughout the world. The report advocated the development of a nationally integrated set of land parcel data and recommended a vision for achieving it. However, 27 years later, despite technological advances to make it more feasible and policy directives that support the development of national land parcel data, the United States has still not achieved this vision. Therefore, the NRC was requested by five organizations (the Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Geographic Data Committee, the Department of Homeland Security, the Census Bureau, and the Environmental Systems Research Institute) to reassess the 1980 vision for land parcel data and determine why it has yet to be achieved.
During the conduct of this study, the importance, complexity, and passion that surround a concept such as a national perspective on land parcel data became much more evident. It also became obvious that the study committee faced a huge challenge in trying to improve upon Need for a Multipurpose Cadastre, since much of what is recommended in that report is as relevant today as it was in 1980. The task therefore became to determine why its vision was not achieved, and how the technological and organizational changes of the last quarter century have influenced the vision and the potential for reaching it.
Fortunately, the committee consisted of an outstanding group of individuals who were up to the task. Committee members came from local and tribal governments that depend on parcel data to improve the delivery of services to taxpayers, and from state governments that are struggling to develop workable partnerships with local governments to acquire parcel data. The committee also included members from the private sector who know how to create parcel data and whose businesses depend on this. Finally, it included members of academia who are dedicated to improving the use
of geospatial data and technologies in public policy. The committee received invaluable input from a diverse group of participants from federal agencies, the private sector, and professional organizations at meetings held in the spring of 2006, including an information-gathering workshop called a Land Parcel Summit. The pulse of the producers and users of parcel data across the nation was measured through a web-based feedback system. This was an innovative approach that gained the perspective of 400 individuals who are working “in the trenches” with parcel data. The thousands of written comments provided by this diverse set of stakeholders helped the committee better understand the issues and formulate its recommendations. The input of all of these individuals has made this a much better report. Finally, the entire committee benefited from the guidance and tireless work of Ann Frazier from the NRC who helped us stay on course. The entire team appreciates the support of the sponsors who wanted us to objectively assess a complex situation and provide a vision for the future.
Finally, a unique aspect of this study has been the opportunity to revisit an issue that was first addressed in 1980. It is an obvious understatement to say that the world is a much different place in 2007. In 1980, personal computers were rare and few could have even described the capabilities that are now available to us over the World Wide Web. In 1980 no one had experienced the events of September 11, 2001, or Hurricane Katrina. Institutionally we did not have a Department of Homeland Security or a Federal Geographic Data Committee. The current framework of Spatial Data Infrastructure standards for data, technology, and discovery did not exist. Now, geospatial technology and related services are ubiquitous. These events and technological advances have changed the way we do business. In light of these factors the committee can only hope that that this report will be as highly regarded as the one written in 1980, but at the same time, we also hope that it will have a greater impact in terms of changing the way all levels of government create and use land parcel data. It is intended for those organizations that create and use land parcel data, and in particular those U.S. government agencies that play a role in coordinating and funding national land parcel data and other related themes of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. The challenge is exactly the same one that faced the original NRC committee 27 years ago—how do we create workable partnerships to better serve our citizens?
David Cowen
Chair