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Inventory and Planning

The Province began its first complete inventory program in the 1960's. It encompassed all of the Island portion of Newfoundland and all of Labrador as far north as the 56th parallel. The program evolved over the years from a timber inventory to a broader ecosystem inventory, but the underlying focus of providing sound statistical information to ensure sustainable management has remained.

The current Forest Inventory Program in the Province is funded through a cost sharing arrangement between the pulp and paper company and the Crown. The program is carried out on a continuous cycle with 10 % of the Province being inventoried in each year. The inventory process is as follows:

• colour aerial photographs are flown by fixed wing aircraft each year in selected locations throughout the Province. Each photograph partially overlaps the coverage of the previous photo so that interpreters can view ground features in 3-dimensions (3-D). To facilitate this 3-D viewing, an interpreter uses a stereoscope which allows him/her to define the height, species, age, and productivity of the forests. The information derived from photographs is verified and supplemented by measuring a series of ground plots. These ground plots also supply information on wildlife habitat and abundance, timber volumes, soils, ground vegetation, etc.
• The next step in the inventory process is converting the boundaries and information created by the interpreter on the photographs into digital format. This is done by cartographic technicians who trace the boundaries with an electronic mouse and store the information in a Geographic Information System (GIS).
• After the information has been loaded into the GIS, planners use it to produce theme maps of forest landscapes for planning and other information needs. The information is also used with computer models to determine the Annual Allowable Cuts (AACs) and impacts of fibre management practices on other resource values.

Step 1: Plot Sampling	Step 2: Aerial Photography
Step 3: Photo interpretation using stereoscope	Step 4: Tracing boundaries from photo
Step 5:  output from traced photo	Step 6:  Computer Model