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Black Hills Hiking Maps
Copyrights of Online Topographic Maps
Such as from TopoZone and TerraServer | Copy of email received from USGS:
Thank you for your interest in the National Atlas of the United States.
In our Map Maker (http://nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.asp) we have several map index layers, which provide access to the topographic maps on the Terraserver. The layers are found under Map Reference. Terraserver will allow you to download images for free and they do not watermark the images as some other sites do. I realize that Terraserver has a copyright statement on the bottom of their web pages, but that does not apply to the topographic maps, which are in the public domain. (See http://terraserver-usa.com/about.aspx?n=AboutFaq for more information.)
When information is added to a topographic map (such as location points as available through TopoZone, or hiking trail information as added by some commercial companies) the result can be copyrighted, but the topographic maps themselves remain in the public domain.
The great majority of the map layers in the National Atlas are designed to be used at 1:2,000,000. There are no topographic maps available at a scale that is appropriate for use with our other data; even the 1:250,000 scale maps are too detailed. We provide the map index layers and link to the Terraserver as a service to our users.
Please let me know if you have any further questions about the National Atlas of the United States.
- Peg
Peg Rawson
Cartographer
U.S. Geological Survey |
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