Historical Forest Inventory Maps for Alberta, 1949-1956

Alberta's publicly owned forested lands were surveyed between 1949 and 1956. The Phase 1 (Broad Scale) Forest Inventory maps classify land as productive, potentially productive, or non-productive based on aerial photo interpretation. The inventory was created by the Government of Alberta to define agricultural suitability and plan timber harvest and industrial development.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical land-use suitability for agriculture based on productivity classification
• Studying mid-century timber harvest planning based on forest cover type mapping
• Mapping historical forest disturbances based on identification of burned or harvested areas
• Comparing historical non-productive land categories (organic soils, barren rock) with modern classifications

Strengths

• Inventory covers a defined seven-year period from 1949 to 1956
• Land classification system includes three distinct categories (productive, potentially productive, non-productive)
• Cover types include specific attributes like crown density, height, and tree species

Limitations

• Polygons lack associated ages or site classes
• Minimum polygon size is 65 hectares, limiting fine-grained analysis
• Maps are not available as geo-referenced rectified images or GIS-ready data

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta

Collection Method

Aerial photo interpretation

Time Range

1949-1956

Geography

Publicly owned forested lands in Alberta, excluding Indian lands, national parks, and the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve