Mapping Conserved Lands in the Freedom's Way National Heritage Area

Aubrey Brennan

Abstract:
In the Fall 2021 semester, I was an intern working on a research project with the Freedoms Way National Heritage Area, a federally designated area encompassing portions of northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The ultimate goal of the project was to support the Biden Administration's 'America the Beautiful - 30 by 30' initiative, which aims to conserve 30 percent of the nation's land by 2030. My specific tasks included updating and creating conserved lands maps using GIS (geographic information system) and developing online interactive mapping tools for the area. The internship provided me with hands-on practices with the processes of collecting, analyzing, and compiling GIS data, as well as applying the knowledge and skillsets learned in geography courses to a close-to-home real-world project.