By Finding aid prepared by Anna Stewart and Elizabeth Nielsen.
Title: Forest Type Maps of Oregon, circa. 1900-1995
Predominant Dates: 1933-1957
ID: MAPS ForestType
Primary Creator: United States. Forest Service. Pacific Northwest Region
Extent: 5.0 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Forest Type Maps of Oregon are arranged into 5 series: I. Statewide Forest Type Maps, 1900-1937; II. County Forest Type Maps, 1933-1957; III. County Forest Site Maps, 1944; IV. County Forest Cover Type Maps, circa 1995; and V. U.S. Geological Survey Land Classification Maps, 1900-1901.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Forest Type Maps of Oregon document forest composition at the county, region, and statewide level in Oregon from 1900 to the mid-1950s. The U.S. Geological Survey prepared the earliest maps at the beginning of the 20th century; the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station and the Pacific Northwest Region of the U.S. Forest Services prepared the forest type maps for the 1930s-1950s. The collection includes maps prepared by E.D. Buell, Arthur Dodwell, H.D. Langille, J.B. Leiberg, F.G. Plummer, Theodore F. Rixon, and Gilbert Thompson.
The maps depict the type and quality of timber as well as areas of non-forested or de-forested land. Several of the maps in this collection indicate the amount of merchantable timber for a given area as board measure (B.M.) per acre. A board measure is the volume of timber contained in a piece measuring one foot by one foot by one inch thick.
Most of the maps in this collection were prepared in the 1930s-1950s for the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program and other programs focusing on large-scale forest health. The maps depict stand types by species composition, tree diameter, and age as well as noting non-forested lands and recently harvested areas. In addition to this primary information the maps also show the locations of main road systems, county and state boundaries, municipalities, rivers and streams, railroad lines, and note boundaries of townships and ranges.
Early in the United States' history there was a desire to record and track the natural resources that the nation maintained, with the initial primary focus on timber supply. The earliest recorded large scale survey happened in 1830 as a statewide forest inventory of Massachusetts, and after the Civil War, as the country faced potential forest supply shortages, there was increased concern for monitoring these assets nationally. This prompted the 1874 Congressional recommendation of forming a Commissionership of Forestry to compile data on the national forest holdings. However, this and following attempts to create such a program failed to meet approval until 1905 when the Forest Service was formed under the U. S. Department of Agricultural.
From 1879 until the Forest Service's establishment in 1905, the U. S. Geological Survey gathered much of the forest type data for the country, as they mapped their way across the western states. The Forest Service however gathered much more information than just timber type estimates, focusing on the quantities of timber suitable for various uses, the current consumption of forest products, and the production of forests. In 1928, Congress passed the McSweeney- McNary Act which specifically instructed the USDA through the Forest Service to maintain current and comprehensive surveys of timber and other forest products on Federal, State, and private forest lands, to be reported to Congress every decade. With this act's passage the Forest Service created the Forest Inventory and Analysis program to not only inventory the present forest data but also look out 10 to 50 years into what could likely appear as time progresses.
While the sampling and analyzing methods surrounding the data collection and compilation have changed throughout history, there continues to be a large desire for these national inventory services. The program has shifted from a periodic, primarily timber-based survey to an annual survey that now includes information on soil, vegetation, tree crown conditions and much more with the goal of providing information for the assessment of the U. S. forests.
More Extent Information: 95 maps; 8 map folders and 1 oversize box
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: These materials were transferred from the Oregon State University Libraries' maps collection to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2014.
Related Materials: The Special Collections and Archives Research Center houses numerous extensive collections documenting forests and forestry in Oregon, including the Gerald W. Williams Collection (MSS WilliamsG) and College of Forestry Records (RG 139). Other forestry maps are available in the Bureau of Land Management Maps of Oregon (MAPS BLM), National Forests in Oregon Maps (MAPS USFS), and the Donald B. Zobel Collection of Historic Forestry and Vegetation Maps (MAPS ZobelMaps).
Preferred Citation: Forest Type Maps of Oregon (MAPS ForestType), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
United States. Forest Service. Pacific Northwest Region
Buell, Edward D.
Dodwell, Arthur
Geological Survey (U.S.)
Langille, H. D. (Harold Douglas), 1874-1954
Leiberg, John B. (John Bernhard) (1853-1913)
Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station (Portland, Or.)
Plummer, Fred G. (Fred Gordon) (1864-1913)
Rixon, Theodore F.
Thompson, Gilbert (1839-1909)
Baker County (Or.)--Maps.
Benton County (Or.)--Maps.
Clackamas County (Or.)--Maps.
Clatsop County (Or.)--Maps.
Columbia County (Or.)--Maps.
Coos County (Or.)--Maps.
Crook County (Or.)--Maps.
Curry County (Or.)--Maps.
Deschutes County (Or.)--Maps.
Deschutes National Forest (Or.)--Maps.
Douglas County (Or.)--Maps.
Forest reserves--Oregon.
Forests and forestry--Oregon--Maps.
Forest site quality--Oregon--Clackamas County.
Forest site quality--Oregon--Lane County.
Forest type groups--Oregon.
Grant County (Or.)--Maps.
Harney County (Or.)--Maps.
Hood River County (Or.)--Maps.
Jackson County (Or.)--Maps.
Jefferson County (Or.)--Maps.
Josephine County (Or.)--Maps.
Klamath County (Or.)--Maps.
Lake County (Or.)--Maps.
Land use--Classification--Maps.
Lane County (Or.)--Maps.
Lincoln County (Or.)--Maps.
Linn County (Or.)--Maps.
Malheur County (Or.)--Maps.
Marion County (Or.)--Maps.
Morrow County (Or.)--Maps.
Mount Hood National Forest (Or.)--Maps.
Multnomah County (Or.)--Maps.
Natural Resources
Polk County (Or.)--Maps.
Tillamook County (Or.)--Maps.
Timber--Oregon--Maps.
Umatilla County (Or.)--Maps.
Umpqua National Forest (Or.)--Maps.
Union County (Or.)--Maps.
Wasco County (Or.)--Maps.
Washington County (Or.)--Maps.
Wheeler County (Or.)--Maps.
Willamette National Forest (Or.)--Maps.
Yamhill County (Or.)--Maps.
Blueline prints.
Forestry maps.
Maps (documents)
Plots (computer drawings).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.