Mark Udall: “I introduced the Remote Sensing Applications Act in June 2001 to address a real problem we have in Colorado, the problem…”

“I introduced the Remote Sensing Applications Act in June 2001 to address a real problem we have in Colorado, the problem of excess growth and sprawl. My goal was to point to a way to utilize the resources of the Federal Government to help foster wise community planning and management at the local level. As a member of the House Committee on Science and the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, it made sense to me to look for ways to help communities grow in a smarter way through the use of technology. One new space-age tool, and the gentleman from California was talking about it, is the use of satellites to provide images of the Earth's surface. We now have the technology, using geospatial data from satellites, that can produce very accurate maps that show information about vegetation, wildlife habitat, flood plains, transportation corridors, soil types and many other things.”