[Tagging] [Talk-us] National Forest trail numbering

[Alan Mintz]

At 2010-08-17 14:33, Paul Johnson wrote:
>On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:44:58 -0700, Alan Mintz wrote:
>
> > At 2010-08-17 02:19, Paul Johnson wrote:
> >>On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:03:17 -0700, Alan Mintz wrote:
> >>
> >> > For Forest Highways (generally major paved roads): ref=FH nn (e.g.
> >> > name=Angeles Crest Highway + ref=FH 61). For Forest
> >> > Roads/Routes/Truck Trails: ref=FR yDxx (e.g. name=Upper Monroe Road +
> >> > ref=FR 2N16) For Forest Trails: ref=FT yDxx (e.g. name=Heaton Flat
> >> > Trail + ref=FT 8W16)
> >>
> >>I believe what you're tagging as FH and FR would be better covered under
> >>the combined "RFD" label.
> >
> > The only meaning of RFD I know of is related to a type of postal
> > delivery route. I'm using abbreviations found in USFS documentation, and
> > used by USFS workers.
>
>Err, typo.  I meant "NFD," which is "National Forest Development," which
>is what the USDA itself refers to it's forest routes as.  Two digit NFDs
>are usually the main roads, with three and four digit ones being
>increasingly minor tracks.

As I said somewhere earlier, this seems to vary by region and forest. The 
tagging I mentioned is used in all southern and central California 
USFS-oversight forests and the ones I was able to quickly check just now in 
northern CA.

I'll also note that because the township/range numbers are relative to a 
specific baseline/meridian, there can be duplication of road refs between 
widely-spaced areas. That is, the refs are relevant only in conjunction 
with the area in which they lie. Some like to say that one can always look 
at position within an admin boundary for context, while others might want 
to include enough in the tagging to make the ref unique, like maybe adding 
an  is_in:county tag (I believe there is exactly one baseline/meridian 
applicable to each county).

--
Alan Mintz <Alan_Mintz+OSM at Earthlink.net>