Pre-Treatment Assessments (PTA)

PTA is a vital component of ecological forestry in Nova Scotia, along with the province's Forest Ecosystem Classification (FEC) system and the Silvicultural Guide for the Ecological Matrix (SGEM) (PDF). The following information bulletin describes the current PTA procedures with examples.

• Pre-Treatment Assessment Information Bulletin No. 01-2025 (PDF)

For information on PTA training, please contact the Forestry Division of NSDNR or the Association for Sustainable Forestry.

Additional Resources

Additional resources available for PTA include the provincial-scale wind exposure and soil type layers.

• Wind Exposure Data – Download the provincial wind exposure raster data in GeoTIFF format or as an ArcGIS Pro layer (.lyrx) file. Be sure to read the associated forest research report (PDF) that describes how the wind exposure data were developed.

• FEC Soil Type – Download the predicted FEC soil type layer as a shapefile. Be sure to read the associated metadata provided.

• View the FEC Soil Type and Wind Exposure data online in the Pre-Treatment Assessment Reference Viewer

The legacy version of the PTA software is still available to the public as an educational tool but is no longer supported by the Department of Natural Resources. Users may encounter issues, especially if using Windows 11, and should proceed with caution. Please see the documentation provided with the software for additional information.

• Download the legacy pre-treatment assessment (PTA) software

Private Land

Pre-treatment assessment is also a recommendation for private land forest management in the province, and the Department of Natural Resources has been working to develop tools and resources to assist landowners.

Below is a PTA program designed for landowners to collect PTA data and generate summaries for their woodlands that can inform their values and management practices.

• Pre-Treatment Assessment Information Bulletin No. 01-2026 (PDF)