Yellowknife (Feb 20/04) - Land administration in the NWT will be easier and more efficient, thanks to the launch of a new Web site.

Designed by municipal and community affairs workers, ATLAS (Administration of the Territorial Land Acts System) was built in part to provide critical information for land claims negotiations, said the minister responsible, Henry Zoe.

"NWT communities will see improved access to land information, more accurate and timely information for improved decision making and the elimination of barriers to both land administration and GIS (Geographical Information Systems)," said Zoe.

After consulting with stakeholders around the North, including businesses and aboriginal and community governments, MACA was able to set up the interim system, which contains information on about 10 communities to date.

"It isn't only basic land information," said Brad York, GIS co-ordinator. "It includes topographical features, like contours."

With devolution and self-government agreements becoming a reality, York said the digital mapping source will provide accurate information where the land verification process has already been completed.

It took a team of people to put the information together, starting from the initial visits documenting the latest land information, matching that with information already in the database and then putting it into digital images and maps.

"There's a lot of background information that goes along with this," said York. The full system is to be in place by 2006, meaning each of the NWT's 33 communities will have its own spot.