Vibe-Winter-2425 - Flipbook - Page 37
Garry Vom Lehn photo
LEFT: Larry Garland on Mount Bond. ABOVE: Garland is seen here recording trail information using
a Trimble GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System ) receiver. Recorded observations, such as trail
alignment, trail junctions, signage, points of interest, and recreational facilities, are assimilated in
GIS software to create digital map content.
geology, and earth sciences. At the time,
he saw no path forward with those
interests—but bookmarked them in
his brain. A business degree at Pacific
University in Oregon would suffice.
After a two-year stint teaching
computer programming at a community college, Garland took a job at a
Boston consulting firm
working in strategic
business planning
and technology
implementation. He
was with the firm for
almost 10 years before
they moved to New
Jersey. Garland had
begun leading trips
and mountaineering
courses in the White
Mountains for the
AMC’s Boston Chapter,
and decided New
England was home. He
was given a generous
severance package,
which included
outplacement support, through which
he began to pursue a career in earth
sciences and geographic information
systems, better known as GIS.
While GIS may be listed as a
qualification on every other job description nowadays, 30 years ago it
was highly scientific, used only by the
government and a small number of
Winter 2024/25
academics. There was no commercial
application, and most of the programming was written by the user. “A lot of
people don’t appreciate that technology
was predominately fax machines and
rudimentary internet,” Garland says,
shaking his head. “They don’t appreciate how crude the process was at the
beginning.”
Before that
process could begin,
however, Garland
needed a career
break. He built on
his extensive hiking
experience and
went international,
climbing Mount
Kilimanjaro, Mount
Elbrus, Aconcagua,
Mont Blanc, and
Denali. He mentions
these peaks of lore
offhandedly, refusing
to pontificate. I can
tell he’s eager to get
to the mapping.
The next two hours feel like a fever
dream to me. I hang on for dear life as
Garland begins to describe the evolution of mapmaking technology. After his
international career break, he read the
AMC’s magazine and learned of a new
project focused on inventorying the
entire Northern Forest, quantifying it
by plot, using satellite imagery. Garland
• Local Apres & Dining
• Inns & B&Bs
• Shopping
& Art Galleries
• Breweries
& Distilleries
• Four Seasons
of Activities!
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