Jonathan Frishtick
GIS/GPS Mapping
802-291-0914
N43˚46'53, W72˚18'09

I became active as a volunteer on the Norwich Conservation Commission, Norwich Special Places and the Norwich Trails Committee. I recognized that there was a real need for accurate, up-to-date custom maps to help with the work of enjoying, protecting and managing our area’s natural resources. Maps—making maps, studying maps, using maps, collecting maps—have always been a love of mine, so I decided to learn for myself how to make the maps that we needed. GIS/GPS Mapping was born in 2004.

I started producing maps of local trails and natural resources, making maps for local landowners and community members like Liz Russell, who wanted a map of the Cossingham Road Farm trail network in Norwich for cross-country skiing. I had the pleasure of creating the Norwich Trail Map for the Norwich Trails Committee, which is sold at Dan & Whit’s and the Norwich Bookstore. I was asked by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, located on Carpenter Street in Norwich, to create a map for their annual Tour de Taste bike ride, and created a map for the King Arthur Trail providing non-motorized access to the new Dresden playing fields on Route 5 South in Norwich. I have also provided the cross-country skiing, mountain biking and walking map for the wonderful community project known as “Parcel 5,” accessed from Beaver Meadow Road in Norwich.

GIS/GPS Mapping has expanded its reach to produce digital maps for recreation, working forests, natural resource conservation and land management throughout New England. Clients include management consultants, foresters, conservation organizations, trail groups, land trusts, private land owners, and real estate consultants. GIS/GPS Mapping has produced maps for clients in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, and Maine as well as South America.

By combining my personal interest in the outdoors with my years of experience in environmental law, geology and land use, GIS/GPS Mapping is able to use the huge amount of information that is available today, such as federal, state and local depositories of geospatial data, satellite imagery, and data collected with hand held GPS units, along with geographic information system software, to provide our clients with the map products and geospatial analysis they need to be successful. I am also very excited about our ability to convert information for use in 3D formats used by Google Earth.

Even though I have worked all over northern New England, the most fun and enjoyment comes from creating maps for the neighbors, local groups and businesses I have known for years.

An Example by the Franny Eanet/Aaron Lamperti Family

The story of how and why we built our house, and why we chose to build off-grid and straw bale begins in California. Franny spent a year as Co-Director of the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology at Humboldt State University in Arcata. She was one of three student directors responsible for the operation of the house and educational programs there. That house had photovoltaic panels, solar hot water, a composting toilet, attached greenhouse, greywater marsh, veggie and herb gardens, windmill, and many other green features. Having been lucky enough to get all that hands on experience, she was eager to continue living sustainably. A few years later, when we made the decision to move back to Vermont, where Aaron grew up, we decided to build our own house.

We began researching alternative building methods and looking for one that was well-suited to our cold and sometimes damp climate. An architect friend suggested we look into straw bale construction, which we were already considering due to its high insulation value, low cost due to being (essentially) agricultural waste, relative simplicity as a building material, and overall ‘organicness’ (i.e. no synthetics to deal with in the long term or off-gas in the short).

We built off-grid as much to avoid having to run power lines as anything, but we would have installed solar panels to generate most of our power and hot water regardless since this is more sustainable. If the grid were available to us, we would be intertied, not off-grid. Sustainability is our priority. We’ve learned that it’s actually pretty easy to live a low-impact lifestyle without much sacrifice. Being off the grid has made our household a lean machine. We get by on much less power than a typical American household: we use approximately 2 kWh/day compared to more like 20kWh/day for a more typical house (this figure comes from the US DoE http://www.eia.doe.gov/
cneaf/electricity/esr/table5.html).

Some of the things we regularly do and have integrated into our routine so that they don’t seem burdensome include: compost, recycle (and reduce, reuse), carpool, compact fluorescents (although we are waiting for LEDs to come down in price because of the mercury in CFLs), heat with wood, have all electronics on power strips so when they’re off they draw no power (a necessity for us because we’re off-grid), buy local, buy organic (local AND organic when possible), buy recycled, grow some of our own food, use low-toxicity soaps, body-care products, paints and other household products, buy in bulk, buy shares in summer and winter CSAs, harvest our own firewood, minimize commute distance, bike to school/work when we can, scavenge/
glean/share/free­cycle.

In writing this, we started thinking about what keeps people from making lifestyle changes, big or small, which will result in less ecological impact, lower embodied energy, smaller carbon footprint, a conserver lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it. It seems like one reason is that people don’t think it really matters, or that what one person or family does makes a difference (Wrong! Nothing could be more important or empowering). Another reason is that people seem to think it will be too time-consuming or difficult, and they are already very busy. The third is that it will be expensive or will not pay for itself very quickly, and everyone is pretty stretched financially these days.

While it’s impossible to argue with how busy people are or the state of the economy, most of the strategies we employ are minor and take little time once they are integrated into your routine. Yes, it takes longer to hang the laundry on a clothesline but only a few minutes longer then throwing it in the dryer. The finances we see as a choice like any other. Some people eat out a lot; others buy lots of fancy clothes or travel. We like to do all of those things, but we choose to spend some of our disposable income on energy efficient appliances and recycled or low-impact building products. In doing so, not only are we getting what we want at a lower ecological cost but we are also helping to bring down the price of what now may be seen as an alternative but which in the future will be the norm. In the time we have been in this house, many of the things that were ‘alternatives’ and therefore a little more expensive have become much more common and accordingly no more expensive than other options.

Pros: All these things have worked out well, so they are all pros.

Cons: These have more to do with our lack of experience and the lack of standards in building with straw (for example we have had some moisture issues due to poor detailing during construction). We don’t like having to use a generator in the winter months when insolation is at a minimum, although we can and do. A grid intertie would be better for this reason, too.

We are broadly happy with the house and our decisions, although we would change a few things if we did it over. Better details in certain areas. Maybe a grid intertie if available, although off grid works fine. We are happy with our relatively green and sustainable home and believe it is not much different (i.e. ‘it’s normal’) to live in one

Describe one of your favorite “special places” in Norwich?

Floating, drifting down the Connecticut River with friends on a summer afternoon.

Choose one word to describe the reason you live in Norwich?

Kids

What coping mechanism do you employ to stave off “cabin fever?”

Go out! Movies, Music, Food, Ski..

Favorite first sign of spring?

Volleyball games and BBQ grills at the base of the chairlift at Burke Mountain while skiing.

What do you typically do for April vacation, or, if not applicable, for a typical vacation?

Go someplace warm, any place.

Where are you from and which place do you prefer?

I am from a 1950’s era split-level development outside of Philadelphia. Which do I prefer?? Hmm..

If you could split your time between living in Norwich and one other place, would you do it and where would it be?

Somewhere in Tuscany.

What is your strangest/funniest Dan and Whit’s episode/tale?

Coming out of Dan and Whit’s and seeing Mike (who mans the gas pumps) holding Woody, my 7lb excuse for a dog, inside his jacket while whispering baby-talk sweet nothings into Woody’s ear. Mike’s gruff exterior has a soft sweet center!

What is the most unusual or odd item you have won in or donated to a raffle?

Donated time to play a 24hr underwater Monopoly marathon game/raffle. Air tanks were up on the pool deck with hoses snaked down to the players. The cards, houses, hotels and Monopoly money were weighted and sealed to stay on the bottom of the pool. Very surreal playing Monopoly down there with three other players!

Classical or classic rock?

Classical.

If you could choose to do it over, would you follow the same education/career path you took?

Yes.

What is your most humorous childhood memory?

Waiting at the train station for my mother to pick me up after school, the pay phone rang, so I picked it up. There was a man on the other end with a quasi-Spanish accent asking if “Pepe the Bullfighter” was at the station. I asked what he looks like and the voice said he wears a red cape. I looked around the station. Couldn’t find Pepe. The guy on the phone asked if I would ask at the ticket window if they had seen Pepe. The man at the counter said “I think someone’s pulling you leg, son.” When I looked into the station office past the ticket window I could see a couple of guys laughing, so I think it was an inside job. They got me good!

Favorite media outlet?

Web.

Which is your favorite Main Street building in Norwich?

The Emerson House, because friends work there and they don’t mind if I bug them.

How often do you go to the Norwich transfer station (dump)?

Once a week. Interesting, huh?

What’s your favorite creature on Earth?

My Mother-in-Law. I do love her.

What was your worst experience with a car?

Swatting a fly in my fiancée’s new car and cracking the windshield. She married me anyway.

Favorite flowers to give or receive?

Blue Orchids from Thailand. Not exactly PC, but beautiful.

Where did you go on your first date ever?

Bonnie Raitt concert.

What do you love most about someone in your life, who is it, and why?

That’s an easy one—my wife Gail. I love her sense of humor and we laugh together a lot. I treasure that.