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In 1996 we took a hike up in the Boise Foothills to a waterfall area in Hulls Gulch. We photographed a series of 360 degree panoramas for our own pleasure and possible future Boise Foothills Ridge to Rivers trail project. Later in the summer a major fire scoured the Foothills including the area near the waterfall. A couple of years later we decided to visit the same panorama sites and take new panorama photographs. We put the "before and after" photographs together on our web site and this led to more communication with managers concerned with the Foothill area. Eventually, in 2000 we did help the Ridge to Rivers Trail System develop a web site. We worked with them to find historical photographs showing changes over time.
We also helped the Boise National Forest document restoration work on Silver Creek using 360 degree panoramas that show before and after restoration in one single view. Compared to single view photographs, these "stacked" panoramas are a very effective tool for monitoring and viewing changes that take place over time.
Similar panorama monitoring efforts are ongoing with the Interactive Watersheds projects. We take a GPS (Geographic Positioning System) reading at every panorama location. This allows accuracy in finding the same place for future panorama photography. Mountain Visions encourages the use of repeat photography and panoramas for enhanced monitoring and sharing these changes with the public on the Web.
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