[Nhcoll-l] Google Earth fix?

[Lisa Geiger]

Hi Douglas,
I use KML files in Google Earth to define county boundaries. Reliable versions of these are usually available from individual state GIS portals (here's California's<https://gis.data.ca.gov/datasets/CALFIRE-Forestry::california-county-boundaries/explore?location=37.246136%2C-119.002032%2C6.77>), the US Census Bureau (available here<https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/kml-cartographic-boundary-files.html>), and the FCC (here<https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/us-county-overlays-kml>). You should be able to simply download the KML file and open it in Google Earth's desktop software, enable the layer, and click on the area within the boundaries to define the county name.  These sources also usually have state and municipality boundaries in KML format as well.

Best of luck!

Lisa Geiger
Cultural Resources Consultant
She/Her | 609-760-4121

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Douglas Yanega <dyanega at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 6, 2022 1:45 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Google Earth fix?

Hi, all.

As part of our normal routine for georeferencing legacy material, I and
others here who work with specimen data capture use Google Earth. Much
of this activity was curtailed during the pandemic, and we're just now
getting back to some of this. It's come to my attention that - evidently
- Google Earth no longer shows the boundaries of counties in the US.

State boundaries, yes, zip code boundaries, yes, but there used to be
county boundaries and county names, and they appear to be entirely gone
now. This promises to entail a significant addition to the time required
for us to properly capture data, and in some cases will make assignment
to county impossible, when a point maps along a road that crosses a
county line (e.g., we need to data capture three points along Hwy 380
between Bingham and Carrizozo, NM, and somewhere between those towns
there is a county line between Socorro and Lincoln counties - but it's
invisible). Yes, points mapping to a town or named place are generally
fine, but points along roads often require a visual confirmation as to
which side of a county line they are on, and that can't be done if
Google Earth has permanently removed county lines from their display.

I'm sure we're not alone in having made extensive use of this feature,
and wanting to have it back. Short of a massive letter-writing campaign
to Google Earth admins, does anyone know a fix for this?

Thanks in advance,

--
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
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