The New York Times has a story (free registration required) about a 1978 map of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge that has gone missing. The map is legally binding and there are no other paper or digital copies of it. This is crucial since the current debate on where oil drilling can occur depends on what is or is not mapped. Doug Vandegraft, the cartographer who was the last known person to see the map, suspects that it was accidentally thrown out. Nevertheless, the circumstances look suspicious. “Mr. Vandegraft said he had folded the map in half, cushioned within its foam-board backing, and put it behind the filing cabinet in the locked room for safekeeping. He said he was distraught when he learned of the loss. In its place in the original nook, he said, he found a new, folded piece of foam board similar to the old one - but with no map attached. ”

By way of Geocarta.