Intermountain GIS Conference

This talk breaks down the steps of formulating your GIS elevator pitch, something everyone should have. An elevator pitch is designed to introduce and establish your value as a GIS career professional to your listener in a short amount of time. We will be going over the key elements of a pitch and important tips to remember.

In the course of working on a non-spatial project that has an end product of an Experience with embedded Dashboards, I have been forced to learn methods, both documented and non-documented, to utilize these tools designed for spatial data to display and work with tabular data. These methods range from utilizing URL parameters to filter data in an Experience to passing through parameters to embedded dashboards to utilizing widgets in ways they weren't designed to do. I would explore these features and also address the bugs and quirks that come from using these platforms in a nontraditional way. 

Learn how to take your career to the next level, from subcontracting to bidding on state and federal grants. Get the details on what you need, and how to curate the most attractive resume.

The City of Twin Falls, ID took a unique path toward Utility Network implementation. After a UN planning project, Esri’s new migration toolset was released. Twin Falls leveraged it successfully for a Sewer UN migration but faced challenges with water pressure subnetworks. They then re-engaged with Timmons Group to seek advisory services to validate the approach and provide recommendations. This presentation compares the different needs of the utilities and their migration strategies, outlines the challenges of updating live apps and services with minimal downtime, and highlights lessons learned. We'll focus on how collaborative problem-solving supports successful Utility Network adoption in wet utilities.  This presentation will focus on technical challenges, decision-making processes, and how collaboration--using Esri Gold Business Partner Timmons Group's expertise--can help utilities navigate complex migrations.  Attendees will gain insight into practical strategies for successful migration, common pitfalls, and methods for adapting tools and workflows to meet unique system needs.

As agencies increasingly rely on geospatial information, the need for clear and timely reporting has never been greater. This presentation demonstrates how to use ArcGIS Dashboards, Experience Builder, and ArcGIS Pro to communicate insights that support operational and strategic decision-making. The session covers techniques such as scripting, database views, and filtered maps to ensure data is accurate, current, and tailored to the audience. Through examples and best practices, attendees will gain a framework for building reporting tools that improve transparency, efficiency, and program effectiveness.

Imagery is no longer just a snapshot in time. It is becoming an essential infrastructure for how organizations plan, operate, and make decisions. Building a Resilient Imagery Program explores how organizations can move beyond one-time image capture toward a planned, repeatable, and shared imagery program that supports standardized workflows, and broader organizational use. This session will examine the progression from ad hoc imagery collection to a resilient program model, highlighting how deliberate and repeatable design choices help sustain long-term value while reducing risk. Attendees will gain insight into how imagery programs can be structured to support continuity, improve access to historical and operational context, and better serve planning, operations, and decision-making across an organization. Ideal for GIS professionals, program managers, and organizational leaders, this session offers a practical framework for building imagery programs that endure.

A trend of increasing wildfire frequency has necessitated the development of methods toidentify forested areas with heightened fire susceptibility. One specific concern in forested areas is susceptibility to canopy fires due to the presence of ladder fuels. Fuel reductiontreatments that target areas where ladder fuels are present are effective at mitigating canopy fires, but it is difficult to identify where ladder fuels exist within large forests. Past studies have demonstrated lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) technology can be used to detect the presence of ladder fuels. This study began with a literature review investigating current lidar applications for ladder fuel identification and subsequently led to the development of a model that quantifies ladder fuel density in forested areas. The model output is a raster image that can be used by land managers to help prioritize fuel load/ladder fuel reduction treatments. The accuracy of the model was field validated in the summer of 2025, demonstrating sites with predicted low estimated ladder fuel density (20%) do indeed exhibit low ladder fuel abundance in the field. Likewise, sites predicted as having high estimated ladder fuel density (66%) exhibited high ladder fuel abundance in the field.

Join the addressing discussion panel bringing together interdisciplinary experts to explore the challenges and the strategies required to address effectively. The session will examine key issues shaping today’s addressing and NG911 environments, highlighting diverse perspectives from around the state and evidence-based approaches. Panelists will engage in a dynamic dialogue on emerging trends, solutions, and emphasize collaboration across sectors and communities.
 
Through moderated discussion and audience engagement, the panel aims to foster critical reflection, practical insight, and actionable recommendations. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in addressing and road centerlines and leave equipped with frameworks and ideas to inform research, practice, and decision-making within their respective fields.

This study investigated trends in aspen (Populus tremuloides) extent and distribution in southeast Idaho to inform targeted management decisions for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) project partners seeking to promote aspen stand health. Remotely sensed Landsat imagery combined with aerial imagery, topographic layers, and in situ observations were used to train a probabilistic decision forest model to model aspen at three scales: 1) a focused study area (FSA) scale, 2) a watershed basin scale, and 3) targeted regions of interest where active management has been conducted. Climatic datasets were used to interpret model results. Historic wildfire locations were used to better understand the study area’s disturbance regime. Model results suggest aspen has declined in extent across the FSA by approximately 50,000 acres (32%) between 2004 (163,356 acres) and 2025 (112,320 acres). Watershed basin analysis shows spatial variability with some basins exhibiting stable aspen extents while others show declines. Personal communications with land managers indicate the model overestimated aspen extent. Various interacting factors may be driving aspen decline including (1) lack of disturbance and infrequent fires affecting aspen in the northern section of the FSA, (2) rising Tmin, Tmax, growing degree days, and frost-free days causing prolonged periods of stress –especially during drought years-- leaving them susceptible to secondary disturbance factors like pests, pathogens, and increasing competition pressure with conifers. Even when considering model uncertainties, aspen are most likely experiencing a decline across eastern Idaho. Further research, monitoring, and management activities to promote aspen habitat is merited

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a stark, challenging landscape that defends its beauty and wonder with rattlesnakes, razor-sharp rock, weather, and isolation. There are no roads. Horses cannot be used. Exploration and mapping of the vertical caves in the lavas requires long (sometimes multi-day) hikes over treacherous ground while carrying ridiculously heavy packs full of vertical gear, water, and camping equipment. Suffering is often a prerequisite for the desert to yield its secrets, and Edward Abbey may have said it best: "In the first place, you can't see anything from a car; you've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you'll begin to see something, maybe. Probably not."This presentation will focus on the exploration, mapping of caves, and efforts to expand Craters of the Moon National Monument during the 1990s. Cave-mapping techniques in the 90s were challenging, as conditions were dark, wet, cold, and frequently dangerous.  Mapping instruments consisted of a compass, clinometer, and tape measure. Drawing ability was necessary to sketch the cave on waterproof Mylar sheets. Data collection used the “LRUD” (Left, Right, Up, Down) method for measuring cross-sections, and maps were generated using early CAD software. In the late 1990s, laser technology and began to replace the tape measure.

High-resolution imagery has become a critical component in modern public safety workflows, extending far beyond visualization and situational awareness during emergency response. In the context of Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911), high-quality, frequently updated imagery serves as a foundational dataset for building, validating, and maintaining the geospatial layers that power accurate call routing and responder decision-making.
This presentation explores how high-resolution aerial and oblique imagery supports the full lifecycle of NG911 data. Attendees will learn how imagery enhances address point creation, road centerline accuracy, building footprint extraction, and the identification of complex locations such as multi-tenant structures and vertical environments. The session will also highlight how imagery enables ongoing data maintenance through change detection, ensuring that GIS datasets remain current in rapidly evolving communities.
In addition, the presentation will examine the operational benefits of integrating high-resolution imagery into emergency communications centers, including improved pre-incident planning, faster incident interpretation, and enhanced coordination across agencies. Real-world examples will demonstrate how agencies leverage imagery not only during active incidents but also as a proactive tool for data governance and quality assurance.
By bridging the gap between emergency response and geospatial data management, high-resolution imagery plays a pivotal role in advancing NG911 capabilities and improving outcomes for both responders and the communities they serve.
 
 
 
 

Comic Sans, Arial, Calibri, Papyrus…does it matter which fonts you use in your map? Fonts—typefaces—have a powerful impact on the look and feel of a map, and can make the difference between an amateur and a professional document. In this presentation, I will show common pitfalls to avoid with font choice and label design, especially with respect to accessibility and legibility, and examples of what happens when these pitfalls are ignored. I will also demonstrate what to look for in a font, how fonts can have personalities, and help you navigate the surprising complexities of the font menu.