How to use the Maine State Conservation Center's interactive GIS mapping application To the right of the map are your controls. With these you can zoom in or out; adjust the map left, right, up, down or diagonal; center the map on a given point; or select a layer of the mapping application that you would like to see information for, such as a town's tax parcel data or a county's soil survey information.
Center the map on a particular point If you would like to center the map on a particular point, click the Pan Map button located at the lower right of the control panel, then click anywhere on the current map. A small black square displays around the point clicked and that point will become the new map center.
Zoom the map in on a specific area then back out To zoom the map in on a specific area, first click on the "Pan Map" button in the control panel. Next, click and drag the mouse in a down-right direction to encompass the area of the map you want to display. A view box displays on the screen and changes size as you move the mouse.
Display tax parcel data for your town, soil survey data for your county, or numerous other layers of information
	Located below the map is a search option. Type your town's name in the box just to the right of "Place Name Equals" followed by a comma and ME. Once you've entered the town name correctly, click the search button. Note: as an example, if you only type in Freeport without the comma and the abbreviation ME (do not spell out Maine), then the mapping application will not take you to Freeport, Maine.
	Located to the right of the map are your controls.  In here you will find the drop down menu "Select Active Layer". There are currently 33 cities/towns in Maine that have digital tax parcel data - this is where they are listed. Select the town you would like to see parcel data for.
	Next, select the "Get Info" button and click on the parcel you would like information on. The parcel will be highlighted in orange, and the parcel's information will be displayed to the left. Note: be sure that the correct active layer is selected as well as the "Get Info" button for the parcel data to display correctly.
	After zooming in on an area, select the county's soil survey data as the active layer, click the get info button, then click on the area that you are interested in.  As with the parcel data, the area highlighted will appear in orange.  The relavent information, such as the soil type, whether or not the area is farmland of statewide importance, as well as the type of drainage will be displayed on the left.