1996 Governor's Commendation

In September 1996, Governor Arne H. Carlson issued two certificates of commendation, one to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the other to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, at the recommendation of the Governor's Council on Geographic Information. The council has established a program to recognize exemplary GIS activities with exceptional benefit to the Minnesota GIS community. The certificates were presented at the September 1996 GIS/LIS Consortium Annual Conference by John Gunyou, director of the Minnesota Office of Technology.

The Governor recognized the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for its pioneering efforts to create the digital National Wetlands Inventory. The Fish & Wildlife Service was commended for anticipating the need for National Wetland Inventory data in public policy-making, partnering with Minnesota in its development, encouraging free data access through the Internet, and committing to ongoing updates.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation was recognized for its outstanding efforts in creating and widely distributing the State of Minnesota digital highway BaseMap. Minnesota Department of Transportation was commended for providing an exceptionally useful, well-documented source of data at low cost and making a commitment to keep the data current on an ongoing basis.