Available Historical Vegetation Maps

DISCLAIMER FOR GLO VEGETATION MAPS

Maps of historical vegetation are for planning and research purposes only. They are only estimates of the original occurrence, location, and extent of vegetation types and wetlands. They do not necessarily include all landscape features that may have been present historically, and the features may not be mapped in their correct historical locations or configurations. The maps should not be used as a substitute for current wetland determinations or delineations performed by a qualified wetland specialist. As a general rule, small landscape features usually are under-represented and consequently have artificially low acreages. Per current Federal and Oregon Wetland Mapping Standards, the mapping of historical wetlands is "neither designed, nor intended, to support legal, regulatory, or jurisdictional analyses of wetland mapping products, nor does it attempt to differentiate between regulatory and non-regulatory wetlands." Mapping of historical wetlands is also not intended to be a hydrography dataset, and it should not be used to infer hydrologic connectivity, or lack thereof, between wetland polygons.

OREGON

Oregon Statewide Composite Historical Vegetation

Historic Vegetation, Oregon (1938).

Tobalske, C. 2002. Historic Vegetation. Source: Oregon Natural Heritage Program, 1:100,000. Shapefile: 60 MB.

Historic Oregon Land Cover 1851: three layers available on OregonExplorer (to view layer descriptions, expand the Habitats and Vegetation layer drop-down, then the Land Cover drop-down, in the left-hand Layers menu in the map viewer)

General Land Office (GLO) and U.S. Coast Survey

Click on the thumbnails below for a preview of the maps. Click on the map citations to download the maps. These are ZIPped (compressed) GIS shapefiles. You will need to uncompress the files and use shapefile-viewing software to view and use the data. There are free spatial tools available from ESRI.

Deschutes National Forest Christy, J.A., L. Riibe, E. Blue & G. Davidson. 2016. GLO historical vegetation of Deschutes National Forest, 1865-1932. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2016_11. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University.
Eastern Columbia Gorge, Eastern Slope Mount Hood Christy, J.A. 2010. GLO historical vegetation of eastern Columbia River Gorge and east slope of Mount Hood, Oregon, 1859-1939. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2010_12. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University.
Harney Basin Vegetation Christy, J.A. 2013. GLO historical vegetation of the Harney Basin, Oregon, 1873-1915. GIS shapefile, Version 2013_03. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Institute for Natural Resources, Portland State University. Streams Christy, J.A. 2013. GLO historical stream alignments in the Harney Basin, Oregon, 1873-1915. GIS shapefile, Version 2013_03. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Institute for Natural Resources, Portland State University.
Oregon Coast Hawes, S.M., J.A. Hiebler, E.M. Nielsen, C.W. Alton, J. A. Christy, P. Benner. 2018. Historical vegetation of the Pacific Coast, Oregon, 1855-1910. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2018_01. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University.
Klamath Basin Christy, J.A. 2006. GLO historical vegetation of Williamson River delta and southern Klamath Basin, Oregon, 1858-1898. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2006_02. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University.
Rogue Valley, Lower Applegate, Upper Illinois Valley Hickman, E. & J.A. Christy. 2012. GLO historical vegetation of central Rogue, lower Applegate, and upper Illinois Valleys, Oregon, 1854-1919. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2012_02. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University.
Sycan Marsh (Lake and Klamath Counties) Christy, J.A., M.P. Dougherty & S.C. Kolar. 2007. GLO historical vegetation of Sycan Marsh, Oregon, 1865-1898. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2007_11. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University.
Umpqua Valley Vegetation Christy, J.A & Hawes, S.M. 2009. GLO historical vegetation of the Umpqua Valley, Oregon, 1851-1917. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2009_07. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University. Streams Christy, J.A & Hawes, S.M. 2003. GLO Historical stream alignments in the Umpqua Valley, Oregon, 1851-1917. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2003_12. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University.
Willamette Valley and Columbia River Floodplain Vegetation Christy, J.A., E.R. Alverson, M.P. Dougherty, S.C. Kolar, C.W. Alton, S.M. Hawes, L. Ashkenas & P. Minear. 2011. GLO historical vegetation of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 1851-1910. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2011_04. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University. Streams Christy, J.A., E.R. Alverson, M.P. Dougherty, S.C. Kolar, C.W. Alton, S.M. Hawes, L. Ashkenas & P. Minear. 1999. GLO Historical stream alignments in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 1851-1910. ArcMap shapefile, Version 1999_12. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University.

WASHINGTON

General Land Office (GLO) and U.S. Coast Survey

Vegetation

Christy, J.A. 2015. GLO historical vegetation of southwestern Washington, 1853-1910. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2015_02. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University.

Streams

Christy, J.A. 2013. GLO historical stream alignments in southwestern Washington, 1855-1910. ArcMap shapefile, Version 2013_06. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Portland State University.