Umatilla National Forest - Historic Maps

 1879 General Land Office (GLO) Vegetation Map

The original public land survey for the Umatilla National Forest was completed primarily between 1879 and 1887. Notes from these General Land Office (GLO) surveys provide the earliest systematically recorded information about tree species composition for national forest system lands in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. Notes from the public land surveys (PLS) provide valuable information for an era predating widespread settlement by Euro-American emigrants. Tree species and size, along with distance and direction to the corner, were provided for up to four bearing trees at each section corner, and for up to two trees at each quarter-corner. This bearing-tree data was analyzed to develop a map showing vegetation conditions on the Umatilla NF for the 1879-1887 era.

 1900 Forests of Oregon

Thompson, Gilbert; Johnson, A. J. 1900. Map of the state of Oregon showing the classification of lands and forests. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Interior, Geological Survey.

Abstract: This full-color map was located in the back pocket of a publication entitled "The Forests of Oregon" by Henry Gannett. It shows forested areas within the state of Oregon, as classified using volume per acre, and also provides ancillary information such as the location of harvested areas, burns (forest fires) and the northern limit of redwood. The map was photographically copied, and copies are hanging at several locations in the Supervisor's Office. It was also digitized for the Forest's geographic information system (northeast Oregon portion only).

1914-1916 Timberland Classification

In September 2001, a contract was awarded to Titan Systems Corporation (Portland, Oregon) to digitize a set of timber classification maps prepared between 1914 and 1916. Titan digitized the thematic information from each map sheet (not the base map data such as streams or stock driveways) and then merged the sheets into a single coverage spanning the whole Umatilla National Forest. Note that the merge process included 10 map sheets from the Umatilla NF (see Kellogg 1916), 10 map sheets from the Wenaha NF (see Kendall 1914), and 7 map sheets from the Whitman NF (see Smith 1915). The composite (merged) map is now available in the Umatilla National Forest's geographic information system.

Copies of individual 1914-1916 sheets used to make this map (27 maps and 3 legends)

1915 Natural Vegetation of Oregon

Lawrence, W.E. 1915. Natural vegetation of Oregon. [Place of publication unknown]:

Abstract: This map, prepared by W.E. Lawrence (Department of Botany at Oregon State College), shows the following items: mesophytic coniferous forest, xerophytic coniferous forest, yellow pine, juniper, alpine and subalpine forest, alpine meadow, chapparal, grassland – west, grassland – east, semi-desert, marsh, and the western boundary of range area (livestock range?). A black-and-white copy of this map was made when working at the National Archives in March 1998; subsequent to that visit, an on-site vendor photographed the map and the color negative was then scanned onto a Kodak PhotoCD. Although it is unknown what data sources were used to compile this map, it provides an interesting historical perspective of broad-scale vegetation conditions in Oregon.

Forest Types

Structure Classes

1935-1936 County-Level Mapping

Forest type maps for Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, and Walla Walla counties in southeastern Washington, and for Grant, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties in northeastern Oregon. Published by the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station, Forest Survey unit for east of the Cascade Range.

These blue-line sheets came from an early mapping effort that provided an impressive amout of detail. Not only were forest-type codes provided, but information about stocking (poor, medium, well), age (10-year classes), associated species (western larch, Engelmann spruce, white pine) and evidence of past timber harvest were included. Type codes allowed deforested burns and non-restocked cutovers to be shown, with codes added for drought-killed, insect-killed, or windthrown stands. Each of 41 different cover types was denoted using an alphanumeric code, sometimes in conjunction with cross-hatching or other annotations. The numbers of Castell or Dixon colored pencils were provided with the legend so that map users, if they so desired, could hand color the maps using a consistent color scheme.

Positional accuracy evaluation for the 1935-1936 forest type mapping

1936-1937 State-Level Mapping

Forest type mapping at the quarter-state scale for northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. State-level forest type maps published by the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station.

This mapping portrays generalized forest types for the northeastern quarter of Oregon and the southeastern quarter of Washington. It was based on detailed type mapping published on a county-by-county basis during 1935 and 1936. Unlike the county-level mapping, this state-level mapping does not include secondary information in the attribute coding, such as stocking, age, seral species, or identification of logged areas. The legend for this map includes two non-forest types, three non-commercial types and twenty timberland types. Original copies of this mapping were located in the forestry library of the University of Washington in Seattle; it was photographed by the University and the resulting negative sent to Photocraft in Portland, Oregon to produce a paper print. This map was digitized from the paper print and it is available in the Umatilla National Forest's geographic information system.

Forest Types

Structure Classes

1953-1960 County-Level Mapping

Forest type maps for Grant, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler counties in northeastern Oregon. County-level forest type maps published by the Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.

These blue-line sheets came from an early mapping effort that provided an impressive amount of detail. Not only were cover type codes provided, but information about stand size (based on diameter classes), stocking/density (non-stocked; poor, medium, well stocking), age (10-year classes), nonforest types (grass, shrub, nonvegetated, water), associated species (western larch, Engelmann spruce, white pine, and many others), and evidence of past partial cutting was also included.

Positional accuracy evaluation for the 1950s forest type mapping

The Forests of Washington and Oregon in the 1930s
A poster describing state and county forest type mapping from the mid 1930s

Abstract | Poster