U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary

Stephanie Hanna (202)208-6416


For Release: May 10, 1006

During the 13th annual meeting of the U.S.- Mexico Bi-National Commission May 6-7 in Mexico City, the two countries agreed to undertake an ambitious aerial photographic survey and mapping effort along their entire 2000-mile border zone.

This effort, which will be accomplished using high-resolution color infra-red photography, will yield a wealth of data about the land, water, surface vegetation cover and natural resources of the border zone, which will be available to the public in digital form, and accessible via the Internet. It is expected that this information will be useful to local, state and federal governments, land managers, and the general public.

"Today, our maps end at the border; but the water and wildlife resources for which we must care cross the border," Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt said. "Even on the U.S. side of the border, our maps and geographical information are of varying ages and quality. Under this agreement, we will acquire a new, precise understanding of the geographic features of the border zone and we will be able to share this information with our Mexican colleagues in a compatible framework. We will, so to speak, be able to compare geographic notes, and to better understand how conditions on each side of the border affect those on the other side."

Under the Mexico City Agreement, the U.S. Geological Survey will acquire photographic images of the entire 100-mile wide U.S. border zone, which will be used to update existing cartography, as well as to provide new data for public use. Similarly, INEGI, the Mexican government's mapping agency, will survey the Mexican border zone. INEGI's survey will utilize color infra-red techniques for areas defined as high priority, and will use sophisticated black-and-white imagery in other area. For the first time, the U.S. and Mexican mapping efforts will be designed to be compatible, so that important geographic data can be understood in a common framework on both sides of the border. Photographic overflights will take place this summer.

The agreement was signed by representatives of the two mapping agencies, and witnessed by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Julia Carabias, the Secretary of SEMARNAP, Mexico's environmental agency. "Solid science and good data are the essential basis for better decision-making on the management of natural and living resources, whether we are discussing rivers or migratory birds," Babbitt continued. "It is my hope that this agreement will put our two nations on the road to a new era of cooperation for the health of the border land area that is so important to both of us.

-DOI-

For technical information on this project, please contact Ken Osborne at the U.S. Geological Survey, 303/202-4138.