This readme.txt file was generated on 2016-09-27 by Georgia Huang (DRUM Curator) and Merril Flanary ------------------- GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- 1. Title of Dataset Restoration of the 1936 Statewide Forest Survey of Minnesota 2. Author Information Principal Investigator Contact Information Name:Ek, Alan R Institution: University of Minnesota Email:aek@umn.edu Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name:Anderson, Brian D Institution: Email: Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name:Wilson, David C Institution: Email: Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Flanary, Merril H Institution: University of Minnesota Email: mflanary@umn.edu 3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): The digitization and restoration of the 1936 Statewide Forest Survey of Minnesota took place from 2014-10-01 to 2015-12-01. 4. Geographic location of data collection (where was data collected?): Minneosta, USA 5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Funding provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative–Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences Department of Forest Resources and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station under Project MIN 42-019. In addition, the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station staff provided support. -------------------------- SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION -------------------------- 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication 2. Links to publications that cite or use the data: Flanary, Merril H.; Anderson, Brian D.; Ek, Alan R.. (2016). Restoration of the 1936 Statewide Forest Survey of Minnesota: Data Description and Comparisons with 2014 Forest Conditions. University of Minnesota. http://hdl.handle.net/11299/182330 3. Was data derived from another source? Yes Original field tally sheets for the 1936 USFS Lake States forest survey (hereafter Survey) were not available, but searches in federal archives throughout the country are ongoing. The records utilized for the study were recovered by one of the authors (Ek) from a St. Paul storage facility.Included was a set of six large (3'x 2'), hardbound Survey summary books. Each book contained summary data for one of the six geographic Survey units in Minnesota. Each book in turn contained two sets of tables: (1) Stand and stock tables that contained average per-acre volume and tree counts, and (2) Summary of volume tables that contained total volume and area in a unit by cover type, stand size class, and ownership type. In the absence of original plot-level data for Minnesota, the 296 summary tables served as the main source of data. An additional overall summary book was also included and used as a check on the data from the six unit books. 6. Recommended citation for the data: Flanary, Merril H; Anderson, Brian D; Wilson, David C; Ek, Alan R. (2016). Restoration of the 1936 Statewide Forest Survey of Minnesota. Retrieved from the Data Repository for the University of Minnesota, http://doi.org/10.13020/D60P4T. --------------------- DATA & FILE OVERVIEW --------------------- 1. File List A. Filename: 1936_USFS_Survey_Database_Forest_Covers.accdb Short description: 1936 USFS survey database of forest covers B. Filename: 1936_USFS_Survey_Database_All_Covers.accdb Short description: 1936 USFS survey database of all covers, including non-forested cover types C. Filename: UserGuide_1936_USFS_Survey_Database_Forest_Covers.pdf Short description: Descriptions of Tables in the 1936 USFS Survey Database of Forest Covers D. Filename: UserGuide_1936_USFS_Survey_Database_AllCovers.pdf Short description: Descriptions of Tables in the 1936 USFS Survey Database of All Covers 2. Relationship between files: The two pdf files provide descriptions for the tables in the corresponding databases. SQL is provided in the "_Forest_Cover" database, but is not included in the "_All_Covers" database. 3. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? no -------------------------- METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION -------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: Microsoft Excel spreadsheet templates were designed to closely mimic the original format of the 1936 tables. Data were entered manually by three personnel, and spreadsheets were then reformatted for querying in Microsoft Access. Queries were developed using SQL language.Databases were subsequently uploaded to an online resource for public use. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: The database was created using Microsoft Access 2016. 3. Describe any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data: The data in the 1936 USDA Forest Service Lake States Survey were compared with published figures found in an Economic Notes publication from the USFS in 1938. Appendix 2.1 in the related staff report provides the comparisons of the restored and published data. Comparisons include total forest area by four stand size classes, total volume for three products by six survey units. In most cases, the digitized data closely matched published figures (within 1%). The following section provides data specific information of four tables in _Forest_Covers database. As opposed to query tables and look up tables, these tables contain the original data. The _All_Cover database have very similar variables and their meanings can be inferred. ----------------------------------------------- DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION for: [Table Ac_Ownshp] ------------------------------------------------ 1. Number of variables: 5 2. Number of cases/rows: 485 3. Variable List A. Name: ID Description: unique identifier for each entry B. Name: Unit Description: survey unit number (could be 1,2,3,4,5 or 6) C. Name: Cover Description: cover type, see Table A1.4 in the staff paper for codes and descriptions of cover types. D. Name: Ownership Description: ownership group, see Table A1.7 in the staff paper for Ownership group descriptions. E. Name: Acres Description: the size of the land in acres. ------------------------------------------------ DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION for: [Table Ac_SzCov] ------------------------------------------------ 1. Number of variables: 6 2. Number of cases/rows: 288 3. Variable List A. Name: ID Description: unique identifier for each entry B. Name: Unique Description: unique identifier for each entry C. Name: Unit Description: survey unit number (could be 1,2,3,4,5 or 6) D. Name: Cover Description: cover type, see Table A1.4 in the staff paper for codes and descriptions of cover types. E. Name: SizeClass Description: size class, see Table A1.5 in staff paper for codes and descriptions of size classes. F. Name: Acres Description: the size of the land in acres. ------------------------------------------------------- DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION for: [Table StandStock_PerAc] ------------------------------------------------------- 1. Number of variables: 10 2. Number of cases/rows: 7640 3. Variable List A. Name: ID Description: unique identifier for each entry B. Name: Unit Description: survey unit number (could be 1,2,3,4,5 or 6) C. Name: Cover Description: cover type, see Table A1.4 in the staff paper for codes and descriptions of cover types. D. Name: SizeClass Description: size class, see Table A1.5 in staff paper for codes and descriptions of size classes. E. Name: DBH Description: diameter at breast height, see Table A1.2 in staff paper for diameter ranges in each DBH class. F. Name: Species Description: species, see Table A1.3 in staff paper for codes and descriptions of species. G. Name: TPA Description: trees per acre, see section 2.2.3 in staff paper for descriptions of how trees per acre was calculated. H. Name: BF_Ac Description: board foot per acre, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. I. Name: CF_Ac Description: cubic foot per acre, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. J. Name: PulpCF_Ac Description: board foot per acre, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. --------------------------------------------------- DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION for: [Table VolTable_Ttl] --------------------------------------------------- 1. Number of variables: 11 2. Number of cases/rows: 1928 3. Variable List A. Name: Unit Description: survey unit number (could be 1,2,3,4,5 or 6) B. Name: Cover Description: cover type, see Table A1.4 in the staff paper for codes and descriptions of cover types. C. Name: SizeClass Description: size class, see Table A1.5 in staff paper for codes and descriptions of size classes. D. Name: Species Description: species, see Table A1.3 in staff paper for codes and descriptions of species. E. Name: 10_12inch_BF_Scrib Description: total Scribner board foot for merchantable trees 10-12"DBH, see section 2.2.3 in staff paper for descriptions of how trees per acre was calculated. F. Name: 14inch_Above_BF_Scrib Description: total Scribner board foot for merchantable trees greater than 14"DBH, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. G. Name: BF_Scrib Description: total Scribner board foot for all merchantable trees, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. H. Name: BF_Int'l Description: total International 1/4 board foot for all merchantable trees, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations; see Section 2.4.1 for descriptions of how Scribner was converted to International 1/4 rule. I. Name: PW_Cords Description: total pulpwood cordwood for pulpwood species, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. J. Name: PW_CF Description: total pulpwood cubic feet volume for pulpwood species, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. K. Name: CF Description: total cubic feet volume for all species, see section 2.2.3, Table A1.6, and Table A1.8 in staff paper for descriptions of how volume per acre was calculated, how volume was measured, and for sample volume per acre calculations. Complete description of the variables can be found in the staff paper: Flanary, Merril H.; Anderson, Brian D.; Ek, Alan R.. (2016). Restoration of the 1936 Statewide Forest Survey of Minnesota: Data Description and Comparisons with 2014 Forest Conditions. University of Minnesota. http://hdl.handle.net/11299/182330