How to have fun with maps (trust us, it's fun)
The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few but information in the hands of many.
- John Naisbitt
GIS
The geographic data gathered on this CD can be explored in three different ways — through standard printable maps, interactive maps, or by loading individual data layers into GIS software.
- We have assembled several Standard Maps which can be viewed through your browser or downloaded and printed. These are finished products which cannot be altered.
- To begin exploring the data on your own, you can start with the Interactive Maps we have created. Each interactive map combines a variety of specific layers that are related to a broader topic. For instance, the resource extraction interactive map includes layers related to mining, proposed oil development, roads etc. The interactive maps require the free GIS software,
ArcExplorer 2, which can be downloaded from this CD. - Finally, you can explore all of the individual datasets on your own by using ArcExplorer or other GIS software you may already have installed on your computer. The data overview and data dictionary can be used to guide your exploration of the individual datasets.
Downloading and using the GIS software and data
It is important to emphasize that you cannot access individual data layers directly with a web browser. You will need to use the ArcExplorer viewing tool included on this CD or a more comprehensive GIS program such as ArcView, ArcInfo, or GRASS GIS. See also our GIS Starter Kit at www.ecotrust.org/publications/gis_kit.html.
Installing ArcExplorer 2.0
PC Users
We have included a PC version of ArcExplorer on this CD, courtesy of ESRI, the software developer. ArcExplorer is a free program that allows a user to view, explore and print map data. You must first install ArcExplorer 2.0 on your computer.
- Drag and drop (save) the following setup program file to your computer: CD\content\data_and_software\ArcExplorer\ae2setup.exe.
- Once this setup program file has been saved to your machine, double click on the ae2setup.exe program to begin the installation of ArcExplorer 2.0. Once installation begins, simply click the "Next" or "I accept" buttons at each point they appear to complete the installation process. ArcExplorer 2.0 and accompanying documents will be installed onto your machine in the folder C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer 2.0.
PC System Requirements
ArcExplorer requires Windows 98, 2000, NT or XP on your machine. ArcExplorer 2 with Windows NT requires that Windows NT Service Pack 3, 4, 5, or 6a have been installed. If you have a different version of ArcExplorer installed on your machine (e.g. ArcExplorer 1.1. 9.0), you must first uninstall the other version before installing ArcExplorer 2.0. It is possible to install ArcExplorer 2.0 on the same computer with the newer, java-based ArcExplorer 9.0, but the interactive maps we have created will only open in ArcExplorer 2.0.
Macintosh users
ESRI also provides a free version of ArcExplorer for Macintosh: ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education. We have not included this program on this CD, but you can download it with instructions at the following website: www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download-education.html
Using ArcExplorer to access interactive maps and individual data layers
If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer as your web browser (we strongly recommend its use with this CD) and you have installed ArcExplorer on your machine, you can easily open any of the interactive maps simply by clicking on any of the interactive maps (also known as ArcExplorer projects). Other browsers (such as Mozilla or Netscape) will not properly open ArcExplorer projects when you click on these links.
If you are not using Internet Explorer as your web browser or are experiencing problems opening the Interactive maps for any other reason, you can simply start the now-installed ArcExplorer 2.0 program from your computer and go to "Open Project..." in the drop-down file menu.
All of the interactive maps contained on this CD are *.AEP files (e.g. Anadromous_Fish.AEP) and can be also be accessed directly from the directory CD/content/data_and_software/data.
Individual data layers can be added to any ArcExplorer project, whether it is a new project or one of our existing interactive maps, simply by clicking on the 
(+) button in the ArcExplorer top toolbar or going to "Add Theme" in the theme menu. All of the data on this CD, as described in the data overview and data dictionary, can be found within subfolders of CD/content/data_and_software/data.
For faster loading of individual data layers, you may wish to first copy the entire data folder from the CD to your own hard drive. This will require 600 MB of space available on your hard-drive.
For More Help
Our ArcExplorer tips page includes a brief list of tips we've written to get you started.
When you installed ArcExplorer, the installation process included a help document and tutorial, ArcExplorer.pdf which can be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free program available through www.adobe.com. We have also included this help document on the CD at CD/content/data_and_software/ArcExplorer/arcexplorer.pdf. If the length of the help document seems intimidating, start with the short, helpful tutorial in Chapter 2.
More information about ArcExplorer is also available online at www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer
Experienced Users
If you have a copy of ArcView, ArcMap or another comprehensive GIS program on your system, you can access all of the spatial data from the data folder available on this CD. For most efficient data access, download the entire data directory to your hard drive. This requires 600 MB of space.
