Students help emergency responders keep Bozeman’s maps current

As pockets of Bozeman continue to be filled in with apartment buildings, condominium complexes and subdivisions, it’s nearly impossible for city planners to keep the maps current.

Too often, firefighters and police are called to neighborhoods where houses and apartments are poorly numbered and building layouts are confusing. They just hope they can find the right residence quickly.

But a quiet partnership between the Bozeman Fire Department and Montana State University students is slowly changing that — and in the process improving the city’s outdated maps.

The idea sprung from a student who mapped out his trailer court because he was sick of the pizza man getting lost during deliveries to his home.

The map was turned into Diana Cooksey, an instructor at MSU, for her Global Positioning System mapping class. Her husband, Bozeman firefighter and training officer Gary Clutter, saw the assignment and wanted a copy.

By KELLYN BROWN Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/12/19/news/maps.txt