Here are some of the organizations and other institutions that provide information about GIS, and how it is used in the public interest.

Non-Profit GIS Service Organizations

• CMAP – the Community Mapping and Assessment Project, a project of NYPIRG
• CommEn Space – serving public interest groups in the Seattle/Pugest Sound region
• Ecotrust – working on sustainable development in the coastal temperate rainforest region of western North America, including providing GIS services to non-profits

Other GIS Related Organizations

• Society for Conservation GIS – the profession society for conservation GIS practitioners
• Public Participation GIS – an annual series of conferences on the use of GIS to better empower and enable citizens, associated with URISA
• ConsGIS – a long-running listserv for those working on GIS science in conservation
• URISA – the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association
• PolicyLink – very good resource for social equity approaches in GIS, click on browse the Toolkit, then click on Community Mapping link

Web Resources

• Geography Network – major portal for data and resources
• ESRI Conservation Program – access to grants, online courses, great books, information, and networking – US and global
• Odden's bookmarks – incredible site on mapping resources
• Tools for Community Decision Making – site for information on how to use GIS in modeling. Also see Community Viz, which sells an ArcView extension for modeling community growth
• The Nature Conservancy's GIS program
• GeoData.gov - the US government's GIS portal
• U.S. Census Bureau – access to GIS and census data, also American Factfinder
• US Geological Survey (USGS) – main US source for land related data, including the National Map
• CAST – Portal to state and local GIS data, and more