Government Records
Each report includes a section grid sketched in and/or annotated to show timber location, type, quantity, and quality; areas already cut; and other features of the land. Also included are the examiner's signature, examination date, and date the report was filed. Many reports are signed by the board members (by the state Executive Council after 1925), following a pre-printed statement recommending the timber's sale.
The digitized component of this collection features digital reproductions, in GIS compatible format, of the Reports of Estimates and Appraisals of the Timber Commissioners Board. These are comprised of approximately 2,900 pages. Each contains a map and assessment indicating the extent, value, and condition of timber resources on state owned lands in the northern half of Minnesota. The map also notes the location of timber relative to water features, wetlands, and cultural references. Although both invaluable and unique as documentation of the states' natural resources prior to extensive settlement, as paper records, the surveys cannot be effectively utilized as a benchmark to measure changes in the environment. This is due to limitations inherent to their format; data on paper cannot be effectively compared or analyzed.
To remedy this and to allow for the effective and efficient use of the surveys, the records were digitized with funding provided by the Minnesota Future Resources Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources, and the information converted to a set of standardized GIS products. The digital data sets were created in several formats in order to make the information accessible to a wide range of applications. The digital formats have captured non-georeferenced scans; georeferenced scans; vector files of the polygons, lines, and points on the maps; and a database of the text accompanying the maps.
The original non-georeferenced scans are available as records of exactly what the survey recorded and for use as illustration. The georeferenced scans can also be used as illustration or as backdrop to other georeferenced data. The vector and database information can be used in geographic information systems, and the database information can also be analyzed with database or spreadsheet software.
The records are arranged in the following sections.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the
Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics
should
The original records (1.5 cubic feet) are held by the Minnesota Historical Society and are closed to general use.
In obtaining this data, it is understood that you and/or your organization have the right to use it for any purpose. If you modify it, you are encouraged to apply responsible best practices by documenting those changes in a metadata record. If you transmit or provide the data to another user, it is your responsibility to provide appropriate content, limitation, warranty and liability information as you see fit.
Zip files available over the Internet.
Users may save these files using a typical Internet browser.
Digital masters of the files are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.
Disks of the GIS Utilization of Historic Timberland Survey Records from the Land Examiner's Reports: Estimates and Appraisals, 1895-1905 series are available from the State Archives. Please call (651) 259-3260 for more information.
Saint Paul, MN : Minnesota Historical Society and Minnesota Planning's Land Management Information Center, June 2001.
Saint Paul, MN : Minnesota Historical Society, 1997.
Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Accession numbers: None; 998-54; 2013-28
Catalog ID number: 001736288
Text for scope and content notes taken from GIS Utilization of Historic Timberland Survey Records three CD set.
Volumes [A] and B-1 (1895-1900) include volume and page citations to Land Examiners Record, Nos. 1-3, cataloged separately as Volumes 1-3 in the Board of Timber Commissioners: Land Examiners Reports, and to Land Examiners Field Books, Nos. 1-7, location of which is unknown.
The reports are arranged chronologically by the date they were filed (notarized), or by the date of the board's recommendation to sell.
Each volume includes an index by range, township, and section, noting the page number for each report and in some volumes also giving the examiner's name.
This series contains files from a three CD set containing digital images, GIS, and tabular data based on the Reports. Each county listed below has files from three discs with varying content.
Content from Disc 1 contains the original scanned images prepared for MHS by Perfect Image of Kirkland, Washington. The 800 DPI, black and white images have been stored in a TIFF, Group IV Fax format. Each image is named based on which of the Report's volumes and page it came from. A ReadMe_CD1.txt file for each county contains more information about the contents of the files from this disc.
Content from Disc 2 contains the entire scanned page georeferenced to DNR's Control Point Generated PLS layer. Each file is named based on which of the Report's volumes and page it came from with an "r" following the page number. Also contains just the georeferenced survey map itself. Each is named with an "rc" following the page number. A ReadMe_CD2TXT file contains more information about the contents of the files from this disc.
Content from Disc 3 contains the points, lined, and polygons appearing on the survey maps in the form of Arc.Info 8.1 export (.e00) files and ArcView shapefiles. Also contains the assessments of timber resources in an Access and .csv format.
The Minnesota Geospatial Information Office may make corrections as needed.
Revised files will be posted for free download at:
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Some reports pre-date the years given on the volume spines.
Letters and memoranda are affixed to some reports.
The report forms themselves begin to be titled: Estimate and Appraisal of State Timber.
Access restricted. Closed to general use, researchers are directed to use the microfilm.