Data Distribution General Information

GIS SECTION, Forest Inventory

Forest Cover Type Maps in hard copy form, created from the digital files of the Forest Database are available to all clients through the DNR Library in Halifax. Please see the Department of Natural Resources Library webpage for more information.

Forest Database digital information is to be copied and distributed solely by the Forest Division, GIS Section, in Truro, in accordance with the policy.

When a Digital Data Request Form is received, the information provided is used to calculate the cost. If the requester is requesting the data to be sent to another company, and the license is to be signed by the requester's supervisor, then the following must be provided: the supervisor's name and title, contact information for the requester, including e-mail, phone number, fax number and complete mailing address. If the data is to be sent to another person, then the contact information for that person must be provided. If the invoice is to be sent to another person, then the contact information for them must be provided.

The standard dataset that we distribute is forest, owner, forcov, cpa (wilderness areas), shell, anno50, posts and elc (ecological land classification). Included in the dataset is documentation on each of the thematic layers, for example, forest, forcov, owner, etc. Also available are digital orthophotographs covering the Hurricane Juan corridor.

Water and Netlin (Base data) data layers are distributed by the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre (Geomatics) in Amherst, Nova Scotia. It is a responsibility of requester of data to contact the Geomatics Centre. Once again, please note that we will not process base data from the Geomatics Centre without their written approval, prior to our processing of the request.

Standard format is as zipped ARC/INFO EXPORT files in UTM NAD83 zone 20 coordinates. Other formats or projections are subjected to processing and staff charges, and may not be accommodated. Data will be issued on a CD for most cases, with the exception of a request for up to two mapsheets, which we can send as e-mail attachments.

Data is stored in county libraries. Please specify the county (or counties) in which the mapsheets you are requesting are part of. If you request a mapsheet that crosses a county boundary, for example, between Lunenburg and Halifax, please specify if you are requesting both parts or just one. If a mapsheet crosses a county boundary, you will only be charged for the part you receive. With the above example, you would be charged half the cost for each part of the mapsheet you receive. Please see the Pricing section for costs.

Cumberland and Colchester counties are stored in Imperial mapsheets, for example, 11e06v1, 21h07x4. All other counties are stored in metric mapsheets, for example, 10 45 2500 61100. When you receive the data, the mapsheets will have the county code in front of them, so that Colchester and Cumberland will look like, e11e06v1, d21h07x4. Metric mapsheets will look like w4525611. We prefer to receive mapsheets listed in these two formats, relevant to the county. If you do not know the appropriate mapsheet, please use the Data Locator and find the metric mapsheet number.

Volume data for forested stands will be included only on Crown land. Any other volume data is subject to the processing and staff charges, as discussed in the Pricing section. Due to Protection of Privacy issues, we are not allowed to distribute the volume data in digital form to a third party, unless we receive a signed letter from the property owner stating we can release the information to the requester. It is up to the requester of data to provide property boundaries to us and ensure that the boundaries are correct.

There is a license fee for each license issued, payable even if the order is canceled. If you request data and a license is issued, the cost will include this fee, along with any other applicable fees. After the license has been sent to you, if you decide to cancel the order, you will receive an invoice for the license fee. After the faxed signed copy of the license is received, the processing starts as stated in the license agreement. At this time, any changes to the request will be treated as a new data request. Please see Pricing for more information.

The turn-around time from the time the signed license agreement is received by the data distributor to the time the data will be shipped out is generally two weeks. Processing will take longer if request is incomplete. Other processing delays maybe necessary during periods of heavy work loads.

If you send a request for information via fax, notify the data distributor that a fax had been sent. It is the responsibility of the requester of data to make sure all faxes, e-mails, letters and telephone calls are received.

Any errors or omissions in the data request is the responsibility of the requester of data. Any changes in the request after the license has been signed will be treated as a new license, with new charges, as applicable. Reprocessing of data will be treated as a new license, with new fees and charges per license.

The covering letter that accompanies the faxed license agreement states how much the data will cost, who it will be issued to and what to do with the license agreement. Please read it carefully. The license that is faxed to you and you sign, must be both faxed and mailed back to data distributor. Processing begins when the faxed copy is received, but the data will not be released until the mailed copy is received and signed by our representative.

Data Distributor
Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources,
664 Prince Street,
Truro, Nova Scotia,
B2N 1G8