Maps and Atlas Collection
Land Economic Inventory
The Wisconsin Land Economic Inventory (often called the "Bordner Survey" after its director, John Bordner) was a Depression-era project to inventory the land resources of Wisconsin so that they could be used more productively. Field workers, usually trained foresters, tried to touch each "forty" in a county and map current land use and land cover, signs of erosion, and size and quality of stands of timber. Included on the maps are such features as houses, schools, churches, taverns, cheese factories, filling stations, and logging camps. Each map covers one survey township. Milwaukee County was not mapped, and maps for Lincoln, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan counties were not published. Land in Menominee County, established in 1961, is included as part of Langlade, Oconto, and Shawano Counties. Together, these maps present a portrait of the Wisconsin landscape during the 1930s and 1940s. Used in conjunction with the original surveyors field notes and survey plat maps, they provide a view of the Wisconsin landscape as it was before settlemtn oand approximately 100 years later.
To view the Land Economic Inventory (Bordner Survey), click the link and choose the "Ecology and Natural Resources Collection."
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