Description: This statewide land cover theme is a digital raster map of existing natural vegetation communities as described at the Group level under the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) system, disturbances (e.g. wildland fire, introduced vegetation, and insect-killed or harvested forest), human land use activities (e.g. agriculture, developed, resource extraction, and transportation), and larger bodies of water for Montana. The base map is adapted from a NatureServe version of existing vegetation communities mapped as NVC Groups derived from the Landfire 2022 Update for Existing Vegetation Type National Vegetation Classification (EVTNVC), which used 30-meter resolution Landsat multi-spectral imagery that represented circa 2016 ground conditions. Landfire’s EVTNVC mapping was developed using decision tree models, field data, Landsat imagery, elevation, and biophysical gradient data. Detailed metadata for EVTNVC can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/evt.php. Initial Data Sources and Processing Steps for Montana Landcover 2025: NatureServe’s EVT raster was clipped to the boundary of Montana and projected from NAD 1983 Albers (meters) to NAD 1983-2011 State Plane Montana FIPS 2500 (meters). Non-EVT classes were modified using state-specific datasets such as: 2023 Montana Department of Revenue Final Land Unit (FLU) classification of private agricultural land; Montana Statewide Irrigation Dataset 2018-2021; 2024 MSDI Transportation Framework; Landfire 2023 Historical Disturbance; and U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database. Additional updates included wetlands from the 2023 Montana Wetland and Riparian Framework and reassignment of certain EVT classes where there was disagreement with the expected species’ range descriptions in the Montana Field Guide. For a detailed description see data processing steps; the Lineage section of this document provides additional details.
Copyright Text: The Montana Landcover is a product of the Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Montana, and the Montana Natural Heritage Program of the Montana State Library.
Description: This statewide land cover theme is a digital raster map of existing natural vegetation communities as described at the Group level under the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) system, disturbances (e.g. wildland fire, introduced vegetation, and insect-killed or harvested forest), human land use activities (e.g. agriculture, developed, resource extraction, and transportation), and larger bodies of water for Montana. The base map is adapted from a NatureServe version of existing vegetation communities mapped as NVC Groups derived from the Landfire 2022 Update for Existing Vegetation Type National Vegetation Classification (EVTNVC), which used 30-meter resolution Landsat multi-spectral imagery that represented circa 2016 ground conditions. Landfire’s EVTNVC mapping was developed using decision tree models, field data, Landsat imagery, elevation, and biophysical gradient data. Detailed metadata for EVTNVC can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/evt.php. Initial Data Sources and Processing Steps for Montana Landcover 2025: NatureServe’s EVT raster was clipped to the boundary of Montana and projected from NAD 1983 Albers (meters) to NAD 1983-2011 State Plane Montana FIPS 2500 (meters). Non-EVT classes were modified using state-specific datasets such as: 2023 Montana Department of Revenue Final Land Unit (FLU) classification of private agricultural land; Montana Statewide Irrigation Dataset 2018-2021; 2024 MSDI Transportation Framework; Landfire 2023 Historical Disturbance; and U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database. Additional updates included wetlands from the 2023 Montana Wetland and Riparian Framework and reassignment of certain EVT classes where there was disagreement with the expected species’ range descriptions in the Montana Field Guide. For a detailed description see data processing steps; the Lineage section of this document provides additional details.
Copyright Text: The Montana Landcover is a product of the Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Montana, and the Montana Natural Heritage Program of the Montana State Library.
Description: This statewide land cover theme is a digital raster map of existing natural vegetation communities as described at the Group level under the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) system, disturbances (e.g. wildland fire, introduced vegetation, and insect-killed or harvested forest), human land use activities (e.g. agriculture, developed, resource extraction, and transportation), and larger bodies of water for Montana. The base map is adapted from a NatureServe version of existing vegetation communities mapped as NVC Groups derived from the Landfire 2022 Update for Existing Vegetation Type National Vegetation Classification (EVTNVC), which used 30-meter resolution Landsat multi-spectral imagery that represented circa 2016 ground conditions. Landfire’s EVTNVC mapping was developed using decision tree models, field data, Landsat imagery, elevation, and biophysical gradient data. Detailed metadata for EVTNVC can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/evt.php. Initial Data Sources and Processing Steps for Montana Landcover 2025: NatureServe’s EVT raster was clipped to the boundary of Montana and projected from NAD 1983 Albers (meters) to NAD 1983-2011 State Plane Montana FIPS 2500 (meters). Non-EVT classes were modified using state-specific datasets such as: 2023 Montana Department of Revenue Final Land Unit (FLU) classification of private agricultural land; Montana Statewide Irrigation Dataset 2018-2021; 2024 MSDI Transportation Framework; Landfire 2023 Historical Disturbance; and U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database. Additional updates included wetlands from the 2023 Montana Wetland and Riparian Framework and reassignment of certain EVT classes where there was disagreement with the expected species’ range descriptions in the Montana Field Guide. For a detailed description see data processing steps; the Lineage section of this document provides additional details.
Copyright Text: The Montana Landcover is a product of the Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Montana, and the Montana Natural Heritage Program of the Montana State Library.