Wisconsin Land Economic Inventory Maps ("Bordner Survey")
Often called the "Bordner Survey" after its director, John Bordner, the Wisconsin Land Economic Inventory 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, and together they present a portrait of the Wisconsin landscape during the 1930s and 1940s.
Focus Areas
Project Leader
Peter Gorman
Head, UW Digital Collections Center
- Department/Unit
- University of Wisconsin-Madison General Library System