Land Info Home County Surveyor GIS/911 Real Property Lister Fees Forms, & Policies Contact Us Visit Web Mapping LAND INFORMATION &   COUNTY SURVEYOR'S OFFICE GIS/911 The GIS Technician coordinates efforts and provides technical assistance to all County Departments concerning Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  The Jackson County Forestry Department is in the process of building an elaborate GIS for the 125,000-acre County Forest.  The Sheriff's Department, E911 and Emergency Government use extensive GIS information to perform their duties. The GIS Technician is also responsible for all rural E-911 addressing in the County.  If you are building a new improvement or if you need a fire number for any other reason, please fill out the “Rural Residential Address” application and submit it to the Jackson County Land Information department.  A map of your property including your driveway location is also very helpful.   Once you have applied for a fire number, your township is notified.  Each township is responsible for ordering, setting up, and billing for the signs.  All cities and villages do their own addressing. What is GIS? The term “Geographic Information System” (commonly referred to as “GIS”) refers to a collection of digital information technologies capable of sorting and analyzing spatial and non-spatial data.  A GIS is composed of computer hardware and software, and array of data that may include maps, databases, photographs, and scanned document images.  Several “layers” of data can be displayed at one time allowing the viewer to see patterns or relationships between the datasets.  A GIS can produce information that answers specific questions and allows one to share that information with others.  By visualizing relationships, connections, and patterns in data, one can make informed decisions and increase efficiency for the county.  The features and benefits of a well-structured GIS are enormous.  The volume of data that can be collected, classified and ranked, and analyzed is unlimited.  The county and municipal uses of data in a GIS can be equally unlimited.  Some examples include land records management, E-911 dispatch assistance, hydrology analysis, demographic projection, and voter registration.  Helpful Links GIS.com:  www.gis.com  ESRI:  www.esri.com Wisconsin Land Information Association:  www.wlia.org State Cartographers Office:  www.sco.wisc.edu USGS National Map:  http://nationalmap.gov/ GIS Day:  www.gisday.com