How Colorado State Land Board Streamlines Operations with GIS

Streamlining Operations with Location Intelligence: The Colorado State Land Board’s Success Story

The Colorado State Land Board (COSLB) has successfully leveraged Location Intelligence by connecting leases maintained in Oracle NetSuite with land parcels stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS). This integration streamlined business workflows from start to finish, enhancing efficiency and data accuracy.

Overview of the Colorado State Land Board (COSLB)

COSLB is responsible for managing millions of acres of state lands, overseeing their sales and leases, royalties from mining production, and the revenue generated for state programs. Before 2012, COSLB faced challenges in tracking leases, permits, geographical data, and accounting records due to the use of multiple disconnected systems. This lack of integration complicated data synchronization across departments.

Key Statistics:

• Employees: 44
• Operating Budget: $6 million
• Statewide Leasing Activities:
  • 2,500 oil and gas wells
  • 2,500 agricultural leases covering approximately 2.7 million acres
  • 200 recreation leases covering around 800,000 acres
  • 3,500 Right-of-Ways and 600,000 square feet of office/warehouse space
  • 16,000 acres of renewable energy leases
  • 12 large consolidated ranches ranging from 25,000 to 80,000 acres
  • 92 solid minerals leases covering approximately 75,000 acres

“GCS was crucial in helping us achieve our goal by building custom scripts and graphical interfaces to relate between ESRI ArcGIS Enterprise/Microsoft SQL Server and NetSuite.”

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Bill Martin, Real Estate GIS Planner, Colorado State Land Board

ATLAS Project Goals and Objectives

To address these challenges, COSLB initiated the ATLAS project, aimed at:

• Creating One Unified System
• Improving Asset Inventory Tracking
• Simplifying Administration
• Providing a Customer Portal
• Enhancing Data Reporting and Analysis
• Offering Cloud-Based Solutions Independent of OIT
• Integrating GIS Mapping

For its business technology foundation, COSLB selected Oracle NetSuite as its ERP, CRM, and fixed asset management system. Recognized as the #1 cloud ERP system, NetSuite eliminates the need for separate applications, unifying critical business functions, although it does not include a native GIS solution.

GCS Integration with GIS

GCS played a crucial role in integrating COSLB’s NetSuite with Esri’s ArcGIS, effectively connecting ERP data to geospatial location data. With over 30 years of expertise, Esri is a leading developer of GIS software, serving more than 300,000 clients globally. As an Esri Business Partner since 2002, GCS specializes in Enterprise integrations between GIS and other IT systems.

GCS assimilated data from four separate departments to create a unique web-based GIS application. This web app enables the public to easily search and identify specific locations on State Land Board maps. COSLB staff can access restricted data and efficiently generate reports on land and revenue.

Enhancing Efficiency with Automation

GCS implemented geoprocessing automations within ArcGIS, allowing for fast and accurate updates without extensive employee training. By consolidating data from multiple sources, COSLB optimized its workflow, facilitating the creation of reports on state holdings that generate revenue. The web app improves public access to available lands for lease, enhancing search options while reducing staff time on requests for printed maps. These previously labor-intensive processes can now be managed directly through red line tools on the web app.

GCS’s comprehensive solution not only enhances efficiency and productivity for COSLB but also reduces administrative costs, delivering high-value results for taxpayers. The seamless interoperability between the GIS web app and NetSuite services further strengthens COSLB’s operational capabilities, embedding GIS directly into NetSuite web applications and dashboards.

About the Colorado State Land Board

Established in 1876 by the Colorado Constitution, the Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners (State Land Board) manages lands granted to Colorado by the Federal Government in public trust. It is the second-largest landowner in Colorado, overseeing 2.8 million surface acres and 4.0 million mineral estate acres. Guided by a dual mission, the State Land Board aims to generate consistent income over time while providing sound stewardship of state trust assets. The lands are held in eight public land trusts that benefit public schools and institutions. The State Land Board is entirely funded by revenue generated from these lands and does not rely on tax dollars. Its Strategic Plan serves as a framework for achieving agency objectives and goals.