Here are some new enhancements to ArcGIS Earth:

• The new on-screen navigation controller offers a more flexible navigation of the globe by adding zoom functionality, viewport navigation, vantage point, and orientation control into a sleek and user-friendly on-screen component. It’s also great for navigating on laptops without a mouse!
• Vector tile layers have been a highly requested and long-awaited addition to ArcGIS Earth—now you can add vector tile layers to the My Data or Startup layer folders or set them as the basemap, depending on the data and what suits your workflow. 
• With the new 3D labeling capability in ArcGIS Earth, you can customize the style and visualization of 3D labels on the fly and set the label position and style in a 3D global view.

Click below to read the latest on new features and functionality including KML, multi-selection and batch editing, and attribute tables.

Love maps and want to save California’s wild spaces? This site is for you!

California is making plans to protect 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030 (called 30×30). And with it is a new mapping tool to support their “30×30″ goal.

The CA Nature website allows you to explore the landscape and consider which areas you might want to see protected in the future. The site’s “conserved areas explorer” shows the 24.1 million acres that are already conserved, many of them as parks, forests, and preserves. Other interactive maps show which lands and waters offer the greatest biodiversity, and how rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are expected to alter the state’s landscapes. Check it out!

Usually April 15th is when our taxes are due, but not this year. Due to a holiday in Washington DC today, Emancipation Day, our taxes will be due on Monday the 18th.

Which brings up a question, which states pay the highest tax rates? Check out the map below:

Unfortunately California is the highest … probably not a good idea to retire in California! Note that Tennessee has joined seven other states that do not levy any individual income tax. Also note there are 10 states that have flat income tax. Click here for more info.

And one more thing. If you are in the CalPERS system for retirement, and you retire in another state, you can elect to have no California tax taken out of your retirement check!

If you are planning on retiring, check out this tool that you can use to compare states that have taxes on retirees.