John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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External Links - US and Canadian Federal Government Department Web Sites
Please report any broken links using the "EMail me" link at the bottom of this page.
This list is restricted to US and Canadian federal government departments. It therefore does not include individual state, provincial or territorial government departments.
Verified Aug-99.
Verified Sep-99.
Includes information for visitors from Britain to Canada. Verified Jul-04.
Verified Mar-03.
Verified Jul-00.
Verified Mar-03.
This web site has a wealth of information. The "National Maps" page offers some useful national maps of the entire Canadian national park system and some sections of the site also offer maps of individual parks. In English and French. Both URL's lead to the same content. Both URL's verified Feb-04.
Verified Dec-00.
This site acts as a portal to the 20,000 US Government web sites which between them offer over 27 million web pages. It is organised by subject rather than by department name. Verified Sep-00.
A version of the Google search engine with hits restricted to the .gov, .mil and .us domains. Verified Jan-01.
This site, greatly favoured by the Scout Report over the similar FirstGov site, had a message on its home page stating that it was no longer available when I checked it in December 2001.
Verified Sep-00. See also United States Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) on this page.
Verified Jun-02.
Verified Nov-97.
Includes information on unmanned space missions. Verified Jun-02.
A collection of images from various planetary missions. Verified Jun-99.
250,000 space photographs. Unchecked.
Includes details of visitor facilities and forthcoming launches. Verified Nov-01.
NASA resources suitable for children. Unchecked.
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Best viewing sites, how to get free launch passes, etc. Verified Jul-98.
Lists of which birds can be seen in each American state. Unchecked.
This site contains a searchable database of information provided by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau Of Land Management, Bureau Of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service and National Park Service, plus map information provided by the US Geological Survey and weather information provided by the US National Weather Service. Entering a state name into this site's search facility provides a list of locations in that state. Verified Mar-02.
Verified Aug-98.
The US Army Corps Of Engineers is responsible for civil engineering works such as dams and associated locks; this site contains information on some of these works. Verified Apr-97.
This organisation is responsible for the production of banknotes in the USA (the US Mint is responsible for the production of coins). This site includes full details of US banknotes past and present, plus an excellent FAQ page. Verified May-02.
Verified Mar-03.
The BLM administers vast tracts of public land, mainly in the west, including many areas and facilities open the public for recreational use. Verified Feb-04.
The US Bureau Of Reclamation is responsible for many aspects of water resource management in the West, including numerous dams, hydroelectric schemes and water distribution systems. Some USBR facilities are open to the public. Their web site has plenty of information about the USBR dams. Verified May-04.
Verified Sep-00.
This site offers a brief summary of population and other statistical information for each US state and county. Verified Sep-00.
Unchecked.
Verified Apr-97.
Information for travellers to various countries. Verified May-96.
This site provides convenient access to the consumer-related sections of various official US Government Department sites. Verified May-01.
Verified Apr-97.
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Verified Sep-99.
Verified Feb-00.
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A useful summary of average gas (petrol) prices by region of the USA and grade. Verified Aug-02.
Verified Mar-02.
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On-time performance of airlines, etc. Unchecked.
The "Visa Services" section includes full details of visa requirements for visitors to the USA from Britain and how the Visa Waiver Programme operates. It also has information on machine readable passport and biometric passport requirements. The site also has links to some US travel information sites. Verified Jun-04.
Verified Dec-98.
Verified Jul-97.
Verified Apr-97.
Verified Jul-02.
This page offers a detailed description of this historic highway. Verified Oct-02.
Available in the form of Adobe Acrobat PDF files, MUTCD provides images and full details of usage of all the road signs and traffic light configurations commonly used in the United States. This site also offers the Standard Highway Signs (SHS) manual, again in the form of Adobe Acrobat PDF files. SHS has full technical drawing details of the design of each sign, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to manufacture or replicate signs. Verified Jul-02.
Includes links to all state Department Of Transport sites. Verified Sep-02.
A very useful basic guide to driving in the USA, organised as seven chapters with one web page per chapter. I couldn't find an Adobe Acrobat PDF file version, unfortunately. Verified Jul-02.
Unchecked.
Advice on food, health, transportation, product safety, money, etc. Unchecked.
Verified Mar-02.
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Verified Sep-97.
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Verified Sep-97.
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Verified Sep-01.
This page offers a gateway to information on the 155 National Forests and twenty National Grasslands throughout the USA. Information on each forest or grassland can be reached by its name, by the state or region in which it is located, or via an interactive map. This page is probably the best method of accessing the wealth of excellent and useful material available on the Forest Service's web site. Verified May-01.
Verified Sep-97.
Verified Mar-02.
Information mainly intended for schoolchildren. Verified Oct-01.
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An excellent source of good advice for consumers and contact addresses of numerous US consumer organisations and relevant state and federal agencies. Also included is an extensive database of company addresses to which customer complaints can be sent. The document is available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) (1634KB download), HTM or TXT formats. Verified May-99.
Equivalent to the UK's Stationery Office (previously called HMSO). Verified Sep-96.
A tour of the US government hosted by a cartoon of Benjamin Franklin. There are separate sections for children of different ages. This would probably also be a very useful introduction to the subject for foreigners. Verified Mar-02.
US Government publications of interest to consumers. Verified Sep-97.
This site provides detailed information about each of the US federal government departments. Each section of the 690 page manual can be downloaded in TXT and PDF format. Verified Sep-00.
Verified Sep-00. See also Medicare on this page.
Verified Jan-00.
Maps and photographs illustrating the connection between the geography and the literature of the USA. Verified Jan-00.
Diaries of forty-nine pioneers who made their way westward across America to Utah, Montana, and the Pacific from 1846 to 1869. Verified Sep-02.
This organisation is responsible for the production of coins in the USA (the Bureau of Engraving And Printing are responsible for banknote production). This site includes fill details of US coins past and present, plus an excellent FAQ page (to obtain all questions and answers, leave the search fields at their default values and just click the "Search" button). Verified May-02.
Verified Sep-00.
Detailed current information on large wild fires in all states. Verified Mar-02.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a division of the US Department Of Commerce. Amongst other activities, the NOAA operates a network of radio stations which broadcast information about extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes and tornadoes, plus other natural and man-made emergencies such as earthquakes, tsunami (tidal waves), volcanic eruptions, chemical and nuclear pollution incidents, etc. The first link has information about NOAA Radios, the second about NOAA more generally. Both links verified Sep-02.
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The first place to visit for information on the US National Parks, National Monuments, etc. Includes extensive detailed information on all areas administered by the National Park Service, including in many cases maps and photographs. Verified Feb-04.
Information for all areas administered by the US National Park Service. Verified Mar-97.
Verified Mar-97.
United States National Park Service - Index by State
An index by state can be found at http://www.nps.gov/parklists/xx.html, where xx is the official two letter abbreviation of the state.
From the National Park Service home page, select the Info Zone option, then the Park Maps option and then the desired park or other area from the lengthy dropdown list. Maps are available for most of the US National Park Service areas (national parks, national monuments, national recreational areas, etc) in JPG and Adobe Acrobat PDF format. In most cases separate maps of both the park itself and the surrounding region are available. These are high quality digital images, not scanned from printed documents. Because of the high quality and level of detail, file sizes tend to be fairly large. This is by far the best source of maps of NPS areas that I have so far found and is a wonderful resource for potential visitors. Verified Feb-04.
Verified Jan-03.
Verified Mar-97.
From the NPS home page, select Info Zone, then Digital Image Archives. Although the photographs state which NPS area they show, unfortunately there is as yet no other information. Verified Feb-04.
This service appears to be for making reservations for campgrounds and tours only, not reservations for hotel/motel accommodation at National Park lodges, etc. Verified Jan-99.
Verified Jun-99.
Verified Sep-02.
Verified Feb-98.
For the visitor from abroad on holiday to the USA, the lists of most popular names given to babies may be one of the more interesting sections of this web site. Verified Dec-02.
Unchecked.
Information for travellers to various countries. Verified Sep-99.
Verified Nov-01.
Verified Nov-01.
An extensive list of slang associated with illegal drugs in the USA. Verified Sep-02.
Detailed current information on large wild fires in all states. Verified Aug-00.
External Links
Government Agencies And Departments Responsible For Recreation Areas
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Most recently modified 30-Dec-05