Geographic data refers to spatially referenced digital data (e.g., shapefiles, coverages, geodatabases, etc.) that can be viewed and analyzed with GIS software (e.g., ArcView, ArcMap). The Forestry Division GIS Section maintains several geographic datasets, and distributes from this website.

Experienced users can click the links on the right to obtain immediate access to downloads. Other users, who may be less sure of what they need, can find more information below.

Forest Inventory
Wet Areas Mapping
Restricted and Limited Use Lands (RLUL)
Forest Fire Fuels
Hurricane Juan Imagery
Land Capability for Forestry
Fernow 1912 Forest Cover
Ecological Land Classification

Forest inventory

Nova Scotia's forest inventory is a characterization of the province's forest resources, with quantitative and qualitative attributes, obtained from the interpretation of 1:10,000 scale aerial photography, and maintained within a GIS.

It describes the forest/non-forest status of land parcels, including water and freshwater and coastal wetlands. For forest stands, it describes the tree species composition, crown closure, height, age, site capability, and various other attributes associated with the forest condition.

Updates based on new photography are targeted for distribution on a 10-year schedule. Interim updates based on treatment data, field updates, and classification of satellite imagery to determine harvest, are made on a 1 to 3 year frequency.

Wet Areas Mapping

The Wet Areas Mapping (WAM) layer is the culmination of years of work by the University of New Brunswick, working with and on behalf of industry and different levels of government. It predicts the depth-to-watertable using elevation (DEM) data, mapped and unmapped streams, water features and wetlands, and data collected and contributed by the partners.

Restricted and Limited Use Lands (RLUL)

The Restricted and Limited Use Land (RLUL) database contains spatial boundaries for land that is protected or limited in use for conservation, ecological, resource management, or heritage purposes. The use of Crown land included may be restricted by Legislation, Orders in Council, Cabinet decree or other legal means.

Forest Fire Fuels

The Forest Protection Branch of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources recently embarked on a project to classify and map forest stands into the forest fuels identified in the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction System (FBP). The objective is to provide a decision support tool which will help provide fire crews with quantitative forest fire information (rates of spread, intensities, etc.) that can improve safety, initial attack efforts, suppression activities and overall costs.

There are 16 different fuel types recognized in the FBP system. Each fuel type is based primarily on stand structural attributes including percentage of conifer, presence of ladder fuels, densities, crown closures, and crown base heights (CBH).

Nova Scotia’s forest inventory provided the source information for the derivation of fuel types. Through discussion within the provincial Fire Science Committee, and with input from the authors of the FBP system, various inventory parameters were identified to calculate and assign fuel types to each stand. The assignment relies primarily on softwood and hardwood percentage and stand density, but also incorporates forest/non-forest status, crown closure, age, height, second story presence/absence, species and land class. The end result was an algorithm that could be implemented in a GIS.

Hurricane Juan Imagery

Hurricane Juan, a Category 2 hurricane, hit the Nova Scotia coastline on September 29th, 2003, leaving a swath of severe damage as it travelled northwards across the province. Aerial photography was flown in October and November of 2003, and used to create digital orthomosaics which are available for download. The images were captured at a scale of 1:24000.

Land Capability for Forestry

The 1:50 000 Land Capability for Forestry in Nova Scotia data was digitized from hardcopy maps produced for the Canada Land Inventory program. It classifies all mineral and organic soils in Nova Scotia into one of seven classes based on their inherent ability to grow commercial timber.

The Government of Canada developed the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) under the auspices of the Department of Regional and Economic Expansion (1963-1971) and the Department of the Environment renamed Environment Canada), (1971- 1994). The program was officially discontinued in 1994. The Land Capability for Forestry in Nova Scotia map was produced by the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forests in cooperation with this federal program.

The classes indicate the degree of limitations for commercial forestry use. The subclasses indicate the kinds of limitations that individually or in combination with others, are affecting commercial use.

This work is described in the following report:
Bailey, R.E. & G.E. Mailman. 1972. The Canada Land Inventory: Land Capability for Forestry in Nova Scotia. Report No. 1. Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forests.

Fernow 1912 Forest Cover

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Ecological Land Classification

n an Ecological Land Classification (ELC) areas of similar ecology are identified and mapped within a hierarchy of ecosystems where broad to specific levels of detail are presented on a series of maps. The current edition of Nova Scotia's ELC spatially identifies ecoregions, ecodistricts, and ecosections.