Maps make messes.  Maps can also be used to mop messes up.  Consider the apparent cleanliness of colonial mapping: missionaries and mapmakers often willfully exclude indigenous populations from cartographic depictions of 'unknown' north america, leaving pristine, clean white where the 'mess' we'd rather not see resides (Brealey, 1995; Harris, 2002; Law, 2004).
Counter-mapping is a method of upsetting such carefully constructed blank slates.  Even where local resources are included on maps, those who depend directly on those resources may not be made apparent.  When those local folks make known their presence on the land, through the use of maps, they are engaged in counter-mapping (Peluso, 1995).

After 2 weeks in Australia, I am taking a moment to reflect on the places I visited and the people I have been meeting.  Since I am lucky enough to have been here several times, I am able to stop looking for kangaroos, and start reading this enormous country.  Instead of a comparison as to what is or isn't done in Australia, Canada, or the US, I want to just address what I observed and heard here.  This is the first time I have come without Joe, and his presence is missed and felt by everyone I meet.  There is a commitment to assisting our Project in continuing--how beautiful that is....