Canadian Forest Products, Grande Prairie Division. — 1956-1966. — 225 maps.
Agency History
North Canadian’s plywood plant, the first in Alberta, was established in 1953 by enterprising Grande Prairie people as Northern Plywoods Limited. In 1956, a close relationship began with Canadian Forest Products Ltd., first through marketing support and subsequently through technical assistance and the provision of capital funds for expansion. The Company became a wholly owned member of the Canfor Group in 1961 along with the Grande Prairie Lumber Company. The two companies were amalgamated as North Canadian Forest Industries Limited as the first step in a program of expansion and integration.
In 1964, a Forest Management Agreement between the Company and the Alberta Government provided for the Company’s continuing timber supply based upon sustained yield forestry practices and the regeneration of cutover lands.
In 1965, the Company embarked upon a pioneering venture with the centralization of log conversion facilities in Grande Prairie. This permitted a high level of integration for the Company facilities, processing of sawmill waste into saleable pulp chips, and thereby a much higher utilization of the forest resource.
By 1967, the Plywood Division plant had expanded production to twice 1961 capacity. Equipment modifications and additions increased plant output a further 50 per cent by 1971. Improvements in utilization of waste wood took place in 1971 and 1972, with the installation of a veneer chipper to produce pulp chips and a core mill to produce studs and chips from peeler cores.
In 1969, a lumber division was established 90 miles north of Grande Prairie at Hines Creek, Alberta. This new mill was constructed to produce precision-end-trimmed studs and peeler logs for the Grande Prairie plywood plant. Facilities were expanded with the addition of a new planer mill in 1971, a new dry kiln in 1972, and the addition of a plant to process sawmill waste into pulp chips in 1979.
North Canadian continues its plan for the future to make full use of the resource under its control and provide employment for its people while manufacturing forest products of the highest quality.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of 225 maps in seven series: Forest Inventory Maps, Forest Planning Maps, Regeneration Data Maps, Phase Three Timber Reconaissance Maps, Environmental Maps, Topographic Maps, Phase Two Timber Inventory Maps.
Notes
Table of Contents
| Series 615.01 | Maps |
| Series 615.01 | Maps. — [1950-1970]. — 225 maps.The series consists of National Topographic maps from the 1950s and 1960s, | ||||||||||||||
| SubSeries 615.01.01 | Topographic Maps. — [1950-1970]. — 146 maps.The sub-series consists of a large quantity of National Topographic Series maps from the 1950s and 1960s, but which are based on 1940 & 50s aerial photographs. They were created by the Federal Government of Canada and cover the northwest part of Alberta and the northeast part of British Columbia. These maps would have been used by Canfor for topgraphic info and general access. | ||||||||||||||
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| SubSeries 615.01.02 | Phase Two Timber Inventory. — 1956-1966. — 26 maps.The sub-series consists of 26 maps (No. 18 is missing) created by the Department of Lands & Forests in Alberta. They cover 27 townships of forested area south and east of the City of Grande Prairie, including the Simonette River and east of the Smoky River. Created between 1956 and 1966, they are Phase Two of the Timber Inventory. Phase One was created between 1949 and 1956. The purpose of these maps was to show a detailed inventory of timber resources. They were used to allocate timber harvest area, and then to plan subsequent harvest and reforstration operations. The map line work was created by first outlining polygons of timber on 1:31,680 scale black and white aerial photography in stereo (which allows for 3D). The polygons contain stands of trees which have similar attributes of species, height and density. Timber typing, as this is called, was done in polygons of a minimum of 16.2 hectares in size. Each polygon was then assigned codes to describe the attributes (see below). In addition to timber type codes, the maps also show topographic lines, water bodies and watercourses, roads and cutlines, and landmarks. This data is overlaid on township maps which are noted as to section number (1-36), township number, range number, and sometimes by meridian. The various coloured outlines indicate a timber type that was of some interest to a forest planner. If the lines are geometric (e.g. form a rectangle), this usually indicates an area planned for harvest. Timber Type Codes for Stands of Timber are coded as to Stand Density (the % of ground covered) with A being 0-30%, B 31-50%, C 50-70%, and D 71-100%; Stand Height Class from 1-4; and Species in order of occupance in the mix: Sw for white spruce, Pl for lodgepole pine, Sb for black spruce, Fb for balsam fir, Lt for larch (tamarack), A for aspen, and Pb for black poplar. Other codes used include markings for brush, open muskeg, treed muskeg, timber type or stand boundary, contour lines with elevations in feet, roads, cutlines, well sites, and stand numbers. A guide to the codes is included in the file. | ||||||||||||||
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| SubSeries 615.01.03 | Phase Three Timber Reconaissance. — n.d.. — 11 maps.The sub-series consists of 11 Phase 3 Forest Cover Inventory maps. The base map is the Alberta Government Forest Inventory map, with Canfor noted locations of timber stands. They cover 11 townships in the Alberta Forest Management Unit W-1 (Whitecourt Forests). The scale is 4″ = 1 mile. Features shown on these maps include the township outline and locator numbers (e.g. Twp 63, Rge 27, W5th Meridian), Section numbers (one square mile or 640 acres), rivers and tributaries., roads, seismic lines, and forest cover codes. The forest cover codes record the % of ground covered (Stand Density) with A being 6-30%, B 31-50%, C 51-70%, and D 71-100%; Stand Height Class from 0-5, with 0 being 0-6 metres, 1 (6.1-12 m), 2 (12.1-18 m), 3 (18.1-24 m), 4 (24.1-20 m) and 5 (taller than 30.1 m); Species in order of occupance in the mix: Sw for white spruce, Pl for lodgepole pine, Sb for black spruce, Fb for balsam fir, Lt for larch (tamarack), A for aspen, and Pb for black poplar; Product possibilities (R for Roundwood, S for Sawlogs, H for Hardwood, and U for Under-size; the year of stand origin (e.g. 89 for 1890, 94 for 1940); and the Productive Class (G for Good, M for Medium, and P for Poor). | ||||||||||||||
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| SubSeries 615.01.04 | Environmental Maps. — [1960-1975]. — 22 maps.The sub-series consists of 22 physical environment maps arranged according to their geological assessment. They were created by C.D. Schultz & Company, the Federal Government of Canada, and the Provincial Government of Alberta. They cover northwestern Alberta, but are focused on Canfor’s Forest Management Areas. They are arranged by the following three sub-series. The C.D. Schultz tagged maps are a form of geographical assessment, but with the absence of a legend there is no way to read the maps. Surficial Geology maps show what can be seen on the surface. This section contains forest cover maps from Alberta’s Forest Surveys Branch. Neither the dates or coding on maps is known at present. Coding may be related to soil types. There is also a series of coloured maps showing provisional soil classification. Bedrock Geology maps show what is beneath the surface. This section contains a map of Alberta, one of Northern Alberta, and one of northeastern Alberta. | ||||||||||||||
| SubSeries 615.01.05 | Regen Data Maps. — [1970-1975]. — 28 maps.The sub-series consists of 28 maps were created by Canfor on Alberta Government Maps. The scale is 4″ for 1 mile. Six of the maps cover the area north of Hines Creek, and 22 are of the area south of Grande Prairie around the Cutbank, Kakwa and Simonette Rivers. These maps are Alberta Government Forest Inventory maps, upon which Canfor shows the status of reforestration of cut over areas. The status is shown by colour coding of the areas. A legend is included with the maps. The following definitions are for words on the legend that may be unfamiliar: Tubelings–seedlings grown in plastic containers shaped like sausage casings. Bare root stock–seedlings grown in open field with no container. Scarified–forest floor is disturbed by mechanical means (dozer blades or large chain harrows) to expose mineral soil for natural seedfall or seeding by hand or by aerial broadcast. All the maps apply to conifer regeneration. | ||||||||||||||
| SubSeries 615.01.06 | Forest Planning Maps. — [1970-1975]. — 10 maps.The sub-series consists of 49 maps from the early 1970s on a scale of 4″ to 1 mile. They were created by the Alberta Government with overlays of notes by Canfor. The coverage area is the Puskwaskau Hills, the Smoky Blk south of Grande Prairie, and the Simonette Blk southeast of Grande Prairie. This is a series of forest industry maps covering the timber and harvesting areas of Canfor in the 1970s. Each paper map is overlayed by a plastic mylar sheet. These sheets were used to notate the harvest planner’s comments as he developed annual and long term plans. | ||||||||||||||
| SubSeries 615.01.07 | Foresty Inventory Maps. — [1975]. — 10 maps.The sub-series consists of 59 Alberta Forest Inventory Maps created by the Alberta Government with some Canfor notation. The coverage area is the Smoky and Simonette area of the Canfor work areas. The maps include planning notes. | ||||||||||||||