A method of land analysis and classification for the Canadian Shield portion of Manitoba

• Main Author: Mazur, Douglas Henry
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/6325

The purpose of land-use planning is to outline on the basis of a rational decision-making process how land and associated resources can be best allocated for existing and future generations. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the resource base, there is no one consistent method of land analysis and classification applied to the land-use planning process. In addition to the problem of consistency, individual methodologies that have been developed for specific purposes elsewhere were found to be too costly to implement or could not be adapted, for a variety of reasons, to the specific task of identifying recreational sites in the Province of Manitoba. The purpose of this thesis is thus to outline a method of land analysis and classification that can be utilized to identity specific sites for recreational development in the Canadian Shield portion of Manitoba. The first step in the process of developing an analysis and classification system for Manitoba was a review of several existing systems. This was done in order to determine if there are common problems inherent in existing methods, and to subsequently attempt to avoid those problems in the formulation of an analysis and classification system for the Manitoba Shield... In selecting the Forest Inventory information it was recognized that, since the data base was originally generated for the purpose of forest management, it was necessary to establish a series of interpretative criteria indicative of suitability for recreational purposes. This was done through a process of experimentation and field checks over the course of five years. The final criteria are thus based on experience obtained over five years of experimentation and actual use of the criteria to finally locate and subsequently develop specific sites for recreational activities.