Metadata for Montana Land Cover Framework Metadata for Montana Land Cover Framework

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Identification Information:

Citation:

Originator: Montana Natural Heritage Program
Publication date: 09/18/2025
Title: Montana Land Cover Framework
Online linkage: https://ftpgeoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Data/Spatial/MSDI/LandUse_LandCover/

Abstract:

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 Land Cover 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.

Purpose:

Montana Land Cover is a 30-meter by 30-meter pixel resolution raster product of existing natural vegetation communities as described at the Group level under the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) system, disturbances, human land use, and larger bodies of water. The NVC Groups portion of the land cover layer are assigned global and subnational/state conservation status ranks by NatureServe and the Montana Natural Heritage Program, respectively, based on the rarity of, trends in, and threats to the vegetation community and these ranks can be used to prioritize conservation efforts and funding. The layer is suitable for general information purposes to inform broad landscape-scale planning processes, but has known limitations and may not be appropriate for fine-scale analyses and applications at the local landscape-scale.

Time period of content:

Calendar date: 09/18/2025
Currentness reference: publication date

Status:

Progress: Complete
Maintenance and update frequency: None planned

Access constraints: None

Use constraints:

Use of this dataset is not recommended for fine-scale analyses (less than 1:50,000). Disturbances (fires, timber harvest, insect/disease) only cover the years 2014 to 2023 (i.e., disturbed areas predating 2014 are mapped as their non-disturbed Group). Users interested in wetland and riparian mapping should use the Montana Wetland and Riparian Framework instead of this product.

Point of contact:

Jessica Mitchell
Director
Spatial Analysis Lab
Natural Sciences 313
Missoula, MT 59812
Telephone: 406-243-5196
E-Mail: spatial.analysis@umontana.edu

Data set credit:

The Montana Land Cover is a product of the Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Montana, and the Montana Natural Heritage Program of the Montana State Library.

Data Quality Information:

Lineage:

Source information:

Title: Montana Transportation Framework
Online linkage: https://ftpgeoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Data/Spatial/MSDI/Transportation/
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The Montana Transportation Framework is a statewide, standardized, database of road centerlines in the State of Montana. The Montana Transportation Framework is part of the Montana Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI). Through a federated approach, the Framework aggregates tribal, county, city, and federal road centerline data into a standardized database. The Transportation Framework contains roads centerline feature geometry, along with address ranges and other attributes. Individual data providers datasets have not been edge matched. As a result, gaps, overlaps, and duplicate features are present in the dataset.

Source information:

Title: North American Rail Network Lines
Online linkage: https://geodata.bts.gov/datasets/usdot::north-american-rail-network-lines/about
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The North American Rail Network (NARN) Rail Lines dataset was created in 2016 and was updated on April 09, 2025 from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The NARN Rail Lines dataset is a database that provides ownership, trackage rights, type, passenger, STRACNET, and geographic reference for North America's railway system at 1:24,000 or better within the United States. The data set covers all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Mexico, and Canada. A data dictionary, or other source of attribute information, is accessible at https://doi.org/10.21949/1528950

Source information:

Title: Montana Department of Revenue Final Land Unit 2023
Online linkage: https://mslservices.mt.gov/Geographic_Information/Data/DataList/datalist_Details.aspx?did={3f9bb571-c148-4891-b929-c70b6b1a2fd5}
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The Department of Revenue Final Land Unit (FLU) classification categorizes private agricultural land into one of nine uses: Commercial Land, Continuously Cropped, Fallow, Grazing, Hay, irrigated, Non-Commercial Forest, Specialty Crop, and Timber. Linework was digitized, edited and updated by DOR GIS Technicians. NAIP 2005 imagery was the primary source used to delineate the features. In early 2009, all agriculture producers who own private parcels in the state were mailed maps of their parcels ag/forest use with instructions to return maps that were incorrectly classified. The DOR GIS technicians updated the database based on feedback from landowners and DOR appraisers who discovered classification changes during field work and/or through analysis of new imagery where available. Since 2010 the data continues to be actively updated on a yearly basis using the most current NAIP imagery available and/or per land classification change requests from landowners and DOR county agriculture and forest appraisal staff. The data changes are completed by DOR GIS staff assigned to maintain specific counties. Typically, there are land classification changes on between 3,000 to 5,000 geocoded parcels each year.

Source information:

Title: Montana Statewide Irrigation Dataset, 2018-2021
Online linkage: https://mslservices.mt.gov/Geographic_Information/Data/DataList/datalist_Details.aspx?did={f33bc611-8d4e-4d92-ae99-49762dec888b}
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The Montana Statewide Irrigation Dataset was used to complement FLU data and reclassify Landfire agricultural pixels to Irrigated Agriculture.

Source information:

Title: Landfire Historical Disturbances 2023
Online linkage: https://landfire.gov/disturbance/hdist
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The Landfire Historical Disturbance dataset maps the distribution of a variety of disturbances (fires, timber harvest, disease and insect damage) in the past decade (i.e. 2014 – 2023). At the time of Montana Land Cover creation, the northeastern corner of the state was not released yet. Disturbances in that area were generated by using the Landfire Historical Disturbances 2022 dataset, removing year 2013 and adding disturbances from LF2023_Dist_240_CONUS (single year 2023). The resulting raster was used to modify EVT pixels to reflect disturbances that occurred in the past decade.

Source information:

Title: U.S Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database
Online linkage: https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uspvdb/
Type of source media: None
Source contribution:: The footprint of solar farms was incorporated into MTLC EVTNVC as High Intensity Developed.

Source information:

Title:: Level III and Level IV Ecoregions of the Continental United States
Online linkage: https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/level-iii-and-iv-ecoregions-continental-united-states
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: Ecoregional boundaries were used to identify misclassified pixels based on their ecoregional location and suggest more appropriate NVC classes.

Source information:

Title: Gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO) Database
Online linkage: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/gridded-soil-survey-geographic-gssurgo-database
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The Horizon table from gSSURGO was used to map saline soils in Montana, by selecting polygons with EC – Representative Value >= 8 in order to separate Great Plains Freshwater Marsh from Great Plains Saline Marsh & Wet Meadow.

Source information:

Title: Montana Wetland and Riparian Framework
Online linkage: https://mslservices.mt.gov/Geographic_Information/Data/DataList/datalist_Details.aspx?did={f57e92f5-a3fa-45b2-9de8-0ba46bbb2d46}
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: Wetland and riparian polygons from the Montana Framework were used to increase the amount of these classes, which are notoriously under mapped in automated raster classifications.

Source information:

Title: IVC_Groups_v2022_MT
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution: Base layer

Source information:

Title: Montana Incorporated Cities and Towns
Online linkage: https://gisservicemt.gov/arcgis/rest/services/MSDI_Framework/Boundaries/MapServer
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: This dataset is a geographical representation of incorporated city and town boundaries in the State of Montana. The data are intended to be used for the mapping or analysis of said boundaries.

Source information:

Title: Montana Structures/Addresses Framework
Online linkage: https://msl.mt.gov/geoinfo/msdi/structures_and_addresses/
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: The Montana Structures/Addresses Framework is a statewide spatial database of structure and address points in the State of Montana. The Montana Structures/Addresses Framework is part of the Montana Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI). The goal of the Montana Structures/Addresses Framework is to have a routinely updated statewide database of primary structures/buildings and addresses. Through a federated approach, the project integrates structure and address point data from local, tribal, state, federal and private data providers into a standardized database. For more information about the included datasets, see Source information in the Data Quality Information section of this document or the metadata table in the database.

Source information:

Title: Soil Health - Electrical Conductivity. USDA - NRCS.
Online linkage: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/Soil Electrical Conductivity Educators.pdf#:~:text=Soils that have EC1:1 of more,than dS/m are considered to be saline.
Type of source media: onLine
Source contribution:: Soil electrical conductivity (EC) is a measure of the amount of salts in soil (salinity of soil). Table 2.

Source information:

Title:: Tobalske, Claudine and Linda Vance. 2017. Predicting the distribution of Russian Olive stands in eastern Montana valley bottoms using NAIP imagery. Report to the US EPA. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Helena, MT. 40pp.
Type of source media: hardcopy
Source contribution: Russian olive along Eastern Montana rivers.

Process step:

Missing sand prairie pixels:
• G775 Intermountain Sand Grassland: all grassland and sagebrush pixels within the Centennial Lake boundary reclassed to G775;
• G889 Northern Great Plains Sand Prairie, present in raster but missing from Medicine Lake area: all grassland and sagebrush pixels within the Medicine Lake boundary reclassed to G889.

Process date: 04/29/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

The original NatureServe IVC Groups raster was clipped to the state boundary and projected from NAD 1983 Albers (meters) to NAD 1983-2011 State Plane Montana FIPS 2500 (meters).

Process date: 04/29/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

One-on-one reclassifications at the group level:
• G136 Great Plains & Rainwater Basin Playa Wetland (1 pixel) -> G521
• G276 Southern Rocky Mountain Mountain-mahogany - Mixed Foothill Shrubland (768) -> All in Ecoregion level 3 #18; reclass to G302
• G303 Intermountain Basins Big Sagebrush Desert Shrubland (4053420) -> reclass to G302 Intermountain Basin Big Sagebrush Steppe
• G510 Western Arid Ruderal Lowland Riparian Forest & Scrub (6630) -> EODX00100 Introduced - Riparian and Wetland Forest and Shrubland
• G524 Western Ruderal Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland (113295) -> EODX00200 Introduced - Riparian and Wetland Herbaceous Vegetation
• G600 Great Basin-Intermountain Ruderal Dry Shrubland & Grassland (251644) -> EODX00300 Introduced - Upland Herbaceous Vegetation
• G624 Western Interior Ruderal Grassland & Shrubland (2325032) -> EODX00300 Introduced - Upland Herbaceous Vegetation
• G679 Northern Great Plains Ruderal Exotic Grassland & Shrubland (5470184) -> Pasture/Hay, Dryland
• G891 Great Plains Native Ruderal Woodland (2470) -> All in a small cluster by eastern boundary of state; reclass to Great Plains Ponderosa Pine (G216).
• G1213 Northern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Marsh and Shrub Swamp (260568) -> EWM00G325 Great Plains Freshwater Marsh (G325)

Process date: 04/29/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

Montana FLU 2023 and the Montana Statewide irrigation Dataset were rasterized, merged, and used to update agriculture pixels. Pre-existing agriculture pixels were reclassed as follows: Agriculture - Pasture or Hay to Pasture/Hay, Dryland; Agriculture - Row Crop to Cultivated Crops, Dryland; orchards along Flathead Lake to Irrigated Agriculture.
Commission errors: non-agricultural single pixels or pixel groups smaller than one hectare and farther than 5km away from FLU/Irrigated were "shrunk" and replaced with adjacent classes.

Process date: 05/07/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

Landfire 2022 was used to assign remaining, non-road "Developed" pixels to one of three classes: Developed - Low & Medium Intensity; Developed - High Intensity; and Quarries-Strip Mines-Gravel Pits-Energy Development. Alpine pixels wrongly mapped as Quarry class were manually reassigned. Solar energy polygons were rasterized and added as High Intensity Developed. The FLU class X (Commercial Land) was visually checked against NAIP imagery; if quarries, they were added by replacing all underlaying pixels except roads and water.

Process date: 05/08/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

A series of queries was run on the MSDI Transportation Framework to identify road segments to one of three classes: Interstate, Major Road, and Other Road, as follows:

• Interstate: Street Name Pre Type = Interstate AND Speed Limit >=55 (to remove business loops and ramps which go to Major Roads); add Street Name = Interstate 90, Legacy Street Name = I 90 or I 15 or I-90 or INTERSTATE 15 or INTERSTATE 90 or 90 then pan at 1:24,000 and add missing segments or remove non-interstate segments; digitize segments when completely missing. Miscoded exit ramps go to Major Road.
• Major Road: interstate ramps, business loops, highways. Select for not coded as Interstate AND: Legacy Street Name contains RAMP; Road Class = Ramp; Street Name Pre Type Contains Highway; Legacy Street Name contains HIGHWAY; Legacy Street Name contains Business AND Legacy Street Name Type = LOOP. Make sure they all connect logically.
• Other Road: All yet uncoded roads unless surface type = Dirt or Street Name Pre Type = Forest Service AND Road Class = Vehicular Trail or Street Name Pre Type = Forest Service AND Speed Limit < 25 (this removes small USFS roads).

After converting linework to raster, each class was added to MTLC EVTNVC by order of precedence: Interstate > Major Road > Other Road. Nothing supersedes transportation pixels when other datasets are added (e.g. disturbances).

Railroad lines were clipped to the extent of the State, rasterized, and added to Land Cover, replacing all underlaying pixels but roads.

Process date: 05/08/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

Polygons from the Montana Wetland and Riparian Framework greater or equal to 10 acres, excluding open water, were selected and shrank by 30m; resulting polygons greater or equal to one acre were rasterized and cross walked to EVT Groups. The gSSURGO attribute EC – Representative Value was used to differentiate Great Plains Freshwater Marsh from Great Plains Saline Marsh & Wet Meadow (polygons with a majority of their area on highly saline soils: EC >= 8; Table 2, NRCS Soil Electrical Conductivity).
Fen polygons were obtained from MTNHP, cross walked to EVT Group based on Level IV Ecoregions, and incorporated into Land Cover by taking precedence over other wetland types.

Process date: 05/08/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

A statewide disturbance raster was generated by using LF2023_HDist_240_CONUS where available, complementing with LF2022_HDist_230_CONUS (disturbances up to 2022, included) LF2023_Dist_240_CONUS (disturbances for the year 2023 only) for the northeastern corner of the state. It was combined with Land Cover and used to reclass pixels as follows:
• Recently Burned Forest: forested Groups except wetland/riparian types;
• Recently Burned Shrubland: shrubland Groups except wetland/riparian types;
• Recently Burned Sagebrush: sagebrush Groups
• Recently Logged: forested Groups except wetland/riparian types;
• Recent Insect/Disease Damage: forested Groups except wetland/riparian types.

Process date: 05/08/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

MTNHP ecologists reviewed Land Cover and suggested the following changes:
• G210 - reclass to G215 east of the Continental Divide;
• G101: scattered pixels north of Highway200, Northwest of Red Lodge and south of Big Timber, at low/moderate elevation -> reclass to G209.
• G301 overmapped around Holter Lake, reclass to G304;
• G567 north of Helena along the Missouri River, Big Belts and Adeles reclassed to G565;
• G521: in 15c, 17aa, 17ab, 17ac, 17af, 17ak, 17p, 17s, 17w, 18b, 43n, 43s, 43t, 43u, 43v reclassify to G531.

Process date: 05/22/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

To address the undermapped Introduced - Riparian and Wetland Forest and Shrubland class, polygons of Russian olive mapped along Eastern Montana rivers during a previous project were rasterized and used to replace underlaying pixels.

Process date: 05/22/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

All remaining Developed pixels from the base NVC raster were by default assigned to Developed - Low & Medium Intensity, resulting in commission errors, particularly along roads. To address this problem, the Montana Incorporated Cities and Towns and Montana Structure/Addresses Framework dataset were leveraged; pixels of Developed – Low & Medium Intensity outside of city limits not corresponding to a structure were reclassed to Developed – Vegetation. In addition, omission errors (where a structure is present but not mapped) were addressed by reclassifying all underlaying pixels but road pixels to Developed - Low & Medium Intensity.

Process date: 05/27/2025

Process contact:

Claudine Tobalske
GIS Analyst
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

Process step:

The updated Land Cover was reviewed by MTNHP ecologists at the 1:24,000 quad level for a final reclassification of erroneous pixels.


Process date: 06/09/2025

Process step:

Final IVC group updates applied and minor pixel classification errors fixed (from the latest base data, IVC_Groups_v2022_MT). Attribute table updated, with latest Montana information and links. Projected in NAD 1983 (2011) StatePlane Montana FIPS 2500 (Meters) - 6514.

Process date: 08/20/2025

Process contact:

Braden Burkholder
Data Systems and Sciences Lead
Montana Natural Heritage Program

Spatial Data Organization Information:

Raster object information:

Raster object type: Grid Cell

Spatial Reference Information:

Horizontal coordinate system definition:

Map projection:

Map projection name: NAD 1983 2011 StatePlane Montana FIPS 2500
Lambert conformal conic:

Planar distance units: meter

Geodetic model:

Horizontal datum name: D NAD 1983 2011
Ellipsoid name: GRS 1980
Semi-major axis: 6378137.0
Denominator of flattening ratio: 298.257222101

Entity and Attribute Information:

Entity type label: OID

Entity type definition: Internal feature number

Attribute label: OBJECTID

Attribute definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute domain:: Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute label: Value

Attribute label: Count

Attribute label: EcoCode

Attribute label: MT_Group_Name

Attribute label: S_Rank

Attribute label: MT_Level_1

Attribute label: MT_Level_2

Attribute label: NVC_Group_Code

Attribute label: NVC_Group_Name

Attribute label: G_Rank

Attribute label: URL

Entity type label: Value

Entity type definition:

3 or 4 digit code; NVC Groups for Montana have 3-4 digits; 4 digit codes in the 8000 are attributed to other classes.

Entity type label: Count

Entity type definition: Number of pixels

Entity type label: EcoCode

Entity type definition: Montana code

Entity type label: MT_Group_Name

Entity type definition: Description of the group

Entity type label: S_Rank

Entity type definition:

Montana employs a standardized ranking system to denote global (range-wide) and state conservation status (NatureServe 2020). Species are assigned numeric ranks at both of these scales ranging from 1 (highest risk, greatest concern) to 5 (demonstrably secure), reflecting the relative degree of risk to the species’ viability, based upon available information.

Entity type label: MT_Level_1

Entity type definition:

Land Cover class generally based on vegetative physiognomy (i.e. grassland, shrubland, forest), but also include aquatic and alpine cover classes, as well as human land uses.

Entity type label: MT_Level_2

Entity type definition:

Land Cover subclass values at the intermediate level of classification that incorporates information on elevation and climate.

Entity type label: NVC_Group_Code

Entity type definition: National Code

Entity type label: NVC_Group_Name

Entity type definition:

The National Vegetation Classification is a standardized, hierarchical system that categorizes vegetation based on ecological characteristics such as climate preferences, soil types, and dominant species.

Entity type label: G_Rank

Entity type definition:

Species global rank. Montana employs a standardized ranking system to denote global (range-wide) and state conservation status (NatureServe 2020). Species are assigned numeric ranks at both of these ranging from 1 (highest risk, greatest concern) to 5 (demonstrably secure), reflecting the relative degree of risk to the species’ viability, based upon available information.

Entity type label: URL

Entity type definition:

A URL link to the Montana Field Guide ecological system description. The link is live from the query box once the raster is displayed.

Distribution Information:

Distributor:

Montana State Library
PO BOX 201800
1201 11th Ave
Helena, MT 59620-1800
Telephone: 1-406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: 1-Montana Relay 711
Fax: 1-406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov
Contact instructions:: For GIS assistance please submit a GIS Support Ticket: https://msl.mt.gov/geoinfo/Help/

Resource description: Downloadable Data

Distribution liability:

The Montana State Library Geographic Information Services provides this product/service for informational purposes only. The Library did not produce it for, nor is it suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Consumers of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the viability of the information for their purposes. The Library provides these data in good faith but does not represent or warrant its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness. In no event shall the Library be liable for any incorrect results or analysis; any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages to any party; or any lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use or the inability to use the data or the services provided. The Library makes these data and services available as a convenience to the public, and for no other purpose. The Library reserves the right to change or revise published data and/or services at any time.

Standard order process:

Digital form:

Metadata Reference Information:

Metadata date: 09/18/2025

Metadata contact:

Jessica Mitchell
Director
Spatial Analysis Lab
Natural Sciences 313
Missoula, MT 59812
Telephone: 406-243-5196
E-Mail: spatial.analysis@umontana.edu