June, 2001
GIS Utilization of Historic Timberland Survey Records

Overview of the CD Set

This 3-CD set contains the following information created by 
scanning the "Reports of Estimates and Appraisals of the
Timber Commissioners Board, dating from 1895-1905":

Disk #1:  The original, processed, non-georeferenced scanned images. 
Each page contains a map and text notes.

Disk #2:  Geo-referenced versions of the images from Disk #1. 
Two versions are provided:  the full page and the map clipped from 
the full page.

Disk #3:  Files created for use with geographic information systems 
(GIS) software. These include vector files created from the maps 
and database files created from the surveyors' text notes.

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Contents of Disk #2

DISK #2: Scanned, geo-referenced pages of "Reports of Estimates and
Appraisals of the Timber Commissioners Board, dating from 1895-1905."

Organized by county, this disk contains two geo-referenced versions of
the scanned images prepared for the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS)
by Perfect Image of Kirkland, WA.


Version 1:

These maps are processed, full page, 800 DPI, black and white images 
which have been geo-referenced to the Minnesota Department of Natural 
Resources (DNR) Control Point Generated 1:24,000 Public Land Survey (PLS) 
GIS layer. This PLS layer is based on original plats and is described in 
detail at:  http://deli.dnr.state.mn.us/metadata/full/pls40ne3.html.
Each image is named based on which of the Report’s volumes and pages it 
came from. A letter 'r' follows the page number to identify the image
as being "geo-referenced". For example:

vb1p0047r.tif is from Volume B1, page 47, and is geo-referenced


Version 2:

From the processed, full page, 800 DPI, black and white images which have
been geo-referenced to DNR's Control Point Generated PLS layer, the survey
map has been extracted and saved. Each image is named based on which of
the Report’s volumes and pages it came from. A letter 'rc' follows the 
page number to identify that the survey map has been "clipped" from
the full, geo-referenced image. For example:

vb1p0047rc.tif is from Volume B1, page 47, geo-referenced, clipped to 
just the survey map.


Please note:

The images from CD #1 display each section as a perfect square which 
often does not match reality. They were processed to create a geo-tiff 
which is a raster image that has been referenced to real world coordinates. 
For this project, the outer boundary of the survey map found on each 
page was georeferenced to the surface of the earth by comparing it with 
DNR's PLS data (extended UTM Zone 15, Datum NAD83).

During the geo-referencing process, images are scaled, rotated and 
often stretched in two dimensions to obtain a "best fit". This process 
introduces a certain amount of positional inaccuracy.  As with all 
GIS data, please use with care!


A total of 2,502 pages were geo-referenced (four pages had TRS and/or 
survey errors). All images are in a TIFF, Group IV Fax format.

Each image has been placed in a subdirectory (four character county
abbreviation) named for the county it falls within. Within each county
directory are subdirectories for geo-referenced pages (geo_ref) and 
geo-referenced and clipped (geo_clip) images.

Images by county: 

  Aitk (Aitkin)        431 pages
  Beck (Becker)         42 pages
  Belt (Beltrami)      188 pages
  Carl (Carlton)       103 pages
  Cass (Cass)          145 pages
  Clea (Clearwater)     62 pages
  Cook (Cook)           44 pages
  Crow (Crow Wing)      49 pages
  Hubb (Hubbard)       142 pages
  Itas (Itasca)        510 pages
  Kana (Kanabec)         5 pages
  Kooc (Koochiching)    35 pages
  Lake (Lake)           69 pages
  Mill (Mille Lacs)     22 pages
  Morr (Morrison)       15 pages
  Pine (Pine)           58 pages
  Stlo (St. Louis)     574 pages
  Todd (Todd)            6 pages
  Wade (Wadena)          2 pages

Please note:
 
  1. See CD #3 for FGDC compliant metadata and important web links.

  2. See CD #3 for tables containing a cross reference between TRS
     (township, range and section) and Volume/Page.

Credits:

This project was a joint effort of the State Archives Department of the 
Minnesota Historical Society and the Land Management Information Center
of Minnesota Planning's Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning. The
advisory board members were: Betsy Daub, Minnesota Audubon Society;
Kathryn Fernholz, Community Forestry Resource Center, Institute for
Agriculture and Trade Policy; Steve Friedman, Department of Forest
Resources, University of Minnesota; Clyde Hanson, Sierra Club; Steve
Lane, Division of Forestry, Department of Natural Resources; Tim O’Hara,
Timber Producers Association; Gaylord Paulson, Division of Forestry, 
Department of Natural Resources; and Jack Rajala, Rajala Companies. John
Hoshal and Norman Anderson represented the Land Management Information
Center; Bob Horton represented the State Archives.

Funding was provided by the Minnesota Future Resources Fund as recommended
by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources.

For more information about this project, updates to the information found
on this disk, examples of how the data is used with GIS tools and other
related data, contact:

Robert Horton
Minnesota Historical Society
345 Kellogg Blvd. West
St. Paul, MN 55102-1906

Tel: 651-215-5866
Fax: 651-296-9961
E-mail: robert.horton@mnhs.org
URL: http://www.mnhs.org

or

John Hoshal, GIS Applications Manager
Land Management Information Center
Suite 330, 658 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN  55155

Tel: (651) 296-1202
Fax: (651) 296-1212
E-mail: john.hoshal@state.mn.us
URL: http://www.lmic.state.mn.us

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6.14.01
Readme_CD2.txt
LMIC
