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Jim Colborn
2001 Engineering Applications Employee of the Year

Jim Colborn, who has photogrammetric responsibilities for the Milwaukee, WI, Region 9 office, has provided exemplary service throughout his career in resolving technological challenges for engineering, cartography, photogrammetry, surveying, and other disciplines, even as demands for more and more rapid, complex, and accessible technology have escalated. In 1980 he was designated U.S. Department of Agriculture Handicapped Employee of the Year. Jim received a letter of recognition in 1985 from Ray Allison of the USDA Forest Service WO for his photogrammetric work using the large format camera with space shuttle aerial photography. Jim reported on this work in a paper to the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).

In 1992 Jim received one award for his work on converting analytical stereoplotter software from a minicomputer platform to a personal computer, and another award for his assistance to Region 6. Recognition of his outstanding achievements continued with special act or service awards and performance awards for above average performance in fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. In FY 2001, Jim earned the Eastern Region Honor Award for Technology Applications Person of the Year.

Jim revels in technological challenges. He is always willing to help coworkers resolve difficulties presented by new software for engineering, cartography, photogrammetry, surveying, and other disciplines. His fearlessness has made him proficient in training others in ARC/INFO, ArcView, ERDAS image processing software, Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Geographic Coordinate Data Base (GCDB) Measurement Management (GMM) and other software.

Jim also thrives on refining his photogrammetric skills. His hands-on approach and ability to learn from photogrammetric mapping projects give him an exceptional practical understanding of all phases of photogrammetric mapping. He knows what approaches, techniques, and procedures work on day-to-day, real-world projects. His proficiency in aero-triangulation helps to minimize the impacts of ground control surveying on the forests.

His national recognition for outstanding photogrammetric skills, earned Jim an appointment to the National Image Processing Procurement Team in 1997. He helped the USDA Forest Service acquire the ERDAS image processing software needed to manipulate remotely sensed imagery for the Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial data collection, forest planning, fire management, and other areas. In 1998 he received an award for his contributions in writing the technical software contract specifications.

Jim's mastery of new computer programs, such as the photogrammetry software ARC/INFO and ArcView, led to his assignment to test beta photogrammetry software on the Whittlesey Creek (Wisconsin) Stream Rehabilitation Project. The partnership with the NRCS, USFWS, State and local governments, and the private sector aims to reestablish one of the most prolific fish-spawning streams in northwestern Wisconsin. Jim used the latest photogrammetric technology to produce digital terrain data and orthophoto mosaics of the Whittlesey Creek watershed. These products could significantly impact the project's success and affect how Federal, State, and local governments manage the watershed and reestablish the creek's spawning capability.

With his knowledge of surveying and willingness to learn ARC/INFO and GMM, Jim is enabling the region to meet its Automated Lands Program (ALP) implementation targets while identifying and resolving Public Land Survey System (PLSS) complexities in the eastern United States. In 2001 Jim began using Region 9's Wayne National Forest's Cartographic Feature File (CFF) and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie's (Illinois) Bureau Land Management (BLM) records to build the foundation data for the region's ALP and GIS databases. This was no easy task.

The Wayne National Forest PLSS uses at least three, and sometimes four, survey schemes and its early CFF data contained a significant number of data errors. Jim showed his usual versatility by mastering the GMM software, removing multiple vectors representing the same ground feature, entering the proper PLSS corner identifiers, updating the existing CFF ownership, and entering the identifiers needed to link the Land Ownership System (LOS) records to ALP. Working with the Region 9 boundary manager, he resolved the problems created by three conflicting GLO surveys and processed the data through the GMM software to make it GCDB compliant.

Decisions made and work completed on the Wayne National Forest and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie landline data conversion projects are likely to significantly improve the quality and quantity of each unit's ALP and GIS databases, enhance natural resource management and quad mapping programs, and provide more accurate information on the location of their landlines, natural resource boundaries, and natural and cultural landscape features in the Eastern and Southern Regions.The data provided to the Geospatial Service and Technology Center (GSTC) will produce better CFF data, generating faster, more accurate reporting of resource information to the WO, USDA, and Congress.

Jim was instrumental in Region 9's acquisition and use of a close-range camera for the structural documentation of historical buildings. His knowledge and skill were critical to identifying and resolving an incompatibility between the camera's calibration information and the region's analytical stereoplotter software. His abilities were equally critical in converting the US-2 Analytical Stereoplotter application software from the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) minicomputer's RSX operating system to a personal computer's DOS operating system. During the conversion he learned and used FORTRAN, BASIC, and C++ programming languages to recode the application software. In conjunction with the stereoplotter's manufacturer, he wrote the code to enable the personal computer to communicate with the stereoplotter and ensured that the converted software was photogrammetrically correct.

A willingness to help others characterizes Jim's behavior in his community as well. He is a participating member of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association of the Greater Milwaukee Area, which is dedicated to helping Americans cope with the results of spinal cord injury and disease. The association works through local chapters, support groups, and a toll-free help line to educate and help survivors of spinal cord injury and disease to achieve and maintain a high level of independence.

Jim serves as a member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), an organization that addresses the special needs of Armed Forces veterans who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction by helping them obtain good-quality health care and raising funds for spinal cord injury medical research and education. The organization helps members secure military service benefits and increase awareness of their civil rights opportunities.

Jim and his wife Cindy support the Elmbrook Humane Society, a self-sustaining organization with no taxpayer funding, by participating in fundraising events such as dog walks and bake sales. Jim and Cindy also support other local humane societies.

By maintaining his certification as an ASPRS certified photogrammetrist since 1995, Jim refines his professional skills. He has become a recognized expert photogrammetrist whose signature and certification number are required on landline location projects on the Chequamegon-Nicolet, Chippewa, Monongahela, and Superior National Forests by the Region 9 Office and forest land staffs.

To our knowledge, Jim is the only person who has created a photogrammetric product derived from the black-and-white, 9-by-18-inch format imagery taken by the large-format camera used on the space shuttle. He aero-triangulated photography, produced an orthophoto of the White Mountain National Forest, and presented a paper on the project at a meeting of the Western Great Lakes Chapter of the ASPRS.

Jim Colborn has consistently demonstrated leadership in embracing, implementing, and sharing engineering applications throughout the USDA Forest Service and beyond.

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