Forest lands aerial photographs

Geographical, then chronological, then by flight number.

Within the Office of Real Property Services (formerly the Division of Equalization and Assessment), Valuation Support Services provides valuation and assessment of real property owned by the state.

The series consists of approximately 26,000 aerial photoprints of state forest lands, divided into two groups: photographs taken in the 1956-1958 period; and those taken in the 1967-1972 period. Geographical coverage for both sets include the Adirondack, Catskill, and Allegany State Park areas. The 1956-1958 set also includes the Palisades Interstate Park region, while the 1967-1972 set includes selected towns in a number of Southern Tier counties.

The primary use of the series by the Office of Real Property Services was to determine forest types for the appraisal of taxable state-owned and private forest lands, and the location of the boundaries of state-owned forest lands.

Both sets have a number of common characteristics. All photography is at the same approximate scale of 1:15,840 (1 inch=1/4 mile); each photo is dated with flight and image number; all images are available in black and white stereo pairs; and photos were taken while the trees were covered with foliage (late spring/summer) and when there was "zero" cloud cover.

The use of black and white infrared film for these photos makes the series quite unusual. Ordinary panchromatic film depicts all tree foliage in a uniform shade of dark gray. Black and white infrared photos depict foliage in varying shades, from near-white to black. Infrared photography also permits the trained analyst to distinguish hardwood, softwood, and mixed timber stands, to identify different types of softwood, and even to identify trees that are losing foliage because of acid precipitation or insect or fungal infestation.

Container list.

Index maps are available onsite. Use the index key in the master file.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.