Forest Photointerpretation Keys

Click on the forest sub-classes to view the keys. To find out more about the class hierarchy refer to the VCGI Land Use / Land Cover codes.

Anderson et al. (1976):
Forest lands have a tree-crown areal density (crown closure percentage) of 10 percent or more, are stocked with trees capable of producing timber or other wood products, and exert an influence on the climate or water regime. Forest Land generally can be identified rather easily on high-altitude imagery, although the boundary between it and other categories of land may be difficult to delineate precisely. Lands from which trees have been removed to less than 10 percent crown closure but which have not been developed for other uses also are included. For example, lands on which there are rotation cycles of clearcutting and blockplanting are part of Forest Land. On such lands, when trees reach marketable size, there will be large areas that have little or no visible forest growth. The pattern can sometimes be identified by the presence of cutting operations in the midst of a large expanse of forest. Unless there is evidence of other use, such areas of little or no forest growth should be included in the Forest Land category. Lands that meet the requirements for Forest Land and also for an Urban or Built-up category should be placed in the latter category. The only exceptions in classifying Forest Land are those areas which would otherwise be classified as Wetland if not for the forest cover. Since the wet condition is of much interest to land managers and planning groups and is so important as an environmental surrogate and control, such lands are classified as Forested Wetland.