Manitoba's Provincial Forest Boundaries (version 6): There are currently 15 provincial forests totalling almost 22,000 km2. Attributes include the name of the provincial forest, the year it was established and its area. Detailed descriptions of Manitoba’s provincial forests are provided in the Provincial Forest Act Regulations.

Manitoba's Provincial Forest B oundaries ( V ersion 6 ). Manitoba's provincial forests reserve certain areas in the province for perpetual growth of timber, preserve the forest cover thereon and provide for a reasonable use of all the resources that the forest lands contain. All Crown lands within a provincial forest are withdrawn from disposition, sale, settlement or occupancy, except under authority of the Forest Act . Before the Province of Manitoba was established, European settlers were promised 160 acres of free land if they lived on it and cleared it for agriculture. As a result, farms began replacing our southern forests. The federal government decided they must retain some forests for building material. In 1885 , they established Turtle Mountain, Spruce Woods and Riding Mountain (now a national park) as timber reserves. Duck Mountain and Porcupine Mountain followed in 1906. What started out as federal timber reserves 100 years ago have become our provincial forests of today. Manitoba has 15 provincial forests , totalling almost 22,000 sq. km . These forests are among the highest quality timber stands in the province. Today, our provincial forests are much more than reserves for timber. They are also places for wildlife, recreation and research. Control of Manitoba's forests was transferred from the federal to the provincial governments in 1930. Provincial forests are Crown lands owned by the people of Manitoba. The feature class name (BDY_MB_PROV_FOREST_PY) components include: 1. ISO 19115 Topic Category Name (BDY for boundary); 2. Location code (MB for Manitoba); 3. Intuitive or descriptive name (PROV_FOREST); 4. Data/geometry type (PY for polygon); 5. Version number (v 6 ).Manitoba's provincial forests include Agassiz Provincial Forest, Belair Provincial Forest, Brightstone Sand Hills Provincial Forest, Cat Hills Provincial Forest, Cormorant Provincial Forest, Duck Mountain, Moose Creek Provincial Forest, Northwest Angle Provincial Forest, Porcupine Provincial Forest, Sandilands Provincial Forest, Spruce Woods Provincial Forest, Swan-Pelican Provincial Forest, Turtle Mountain Provincial Forest, Wampum Provincial Forest, and Whiteshell Provincial Forest.Detailed descriptions of Manitoba’s Provincial Forests are provided in the Provincial Forest Act Regulations.

The dataset includes the following fields :

Name / Nom Alias Description PROV_FOREST_ID Provincial Forest ID / No de la forêt provinciale Provincial Forest identifier Identificateur de la forêt provinciale PROV_FOREST_NAME Provincial Forest Name Provincial Forest name -- NOM_FORET_PROV Nom de la forêt provinciale -- Nom de la forêt provinciale ESTABLISHED Year Established / Année d’établissement The year that the provincial forest was established L’année où la forêt provinciale a été établie AREA_HA Area / Surface (Hectares) Area in hectares La surface en hectares