West Virginia's Mineral Lands Mapping Program

McCOLLOCH, GAYLE H., JR., West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV; NEIDIG, CRAIG, West Virginia State GIS Coordinator, Charleston, WV; FEDORKO, NICK, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV; MAKI, EDWIN, West Virginia Division of Tax and Revenue, Charleston, WV; HOLLIDAY, ROBERT, West Virginia Division of Tax and Revenue Charleston, WV, and DESAI, CHETAN, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

In 1995 the West Virginia legislature passed H.B. 2222 to fund the development of a statewide Geographic Information System (GIS) of mineral resources, specifically coal, in order to promote a more open and equitable means of tax valuation of mineral holdings by West Virginia property owners.  Designated as the Mineral Lands Mapping Program (MLMP), the lead agencies are the WV Geological and Economic Survey, the WV Department of Tax and Revenue, and the State GIS Technical Center at West Virginia University. The complex topography and geology of West Virginia require that large volumes of two- and three-dimensional spatial data be created to support the identification, mapping, and evaluation of coal resources for improved tax assessment of land parcels. The presentation will focus on the current GIS coverages from the pilot project area of Fayette County, including Digital Line Graphs (DLGs), mineral parcels, mining activities, and coal geology. Also discussed are the political and economic context of the project, data requirements and sources, inputs and digital conversion procedures, adoption of metadata and data standards, geological base mapping, coal resource modeling methods, tax parcel reconciliation, the integration of the various data sets, and value-added benefits of the GIS data and maps beyond their original intended uses.

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