Maps!! I love a good map

Is there any tool more useful when it comes to land stewardship than a good map? Maps come in all kinds of formats and answer all kinds of questions. Chances are, if you’re wondering about something, there’s a map for that.

Land stewardship sits somewhere between science and story. As a child, I loved the books that came with a map pasted into the front cover — The Hobbit, the Narnia books, Wind in The Willows . . . They all began with a map.

When it comes to land stewardship, maps are different ways of collecting and telling the land’s story. They’re tools that can take us back in time, can tell us what’s happening right now and can project into the future. Some maps are very intricate, provide an incredible level of detail and require technical/professional expertise. Some maps get scratched on to cocktail napkins. Whatever you think about maps, however much experience you’ve had – or haven’t – the right map for the right question can be a land steward’s best friend.

Technical Nerd-Level Maps

Let’s start with the technical maps. These are maps that require specialized equipment, software, or professional certification. They may cost some money, they’ll definitely cost time, but for anyone who takes the time, these maps deliver skills and options. Let’s get into it.

1. LiDAR Terrain Mapping (Airborne or Drone-Based)

LiDAR is a way of measuring the land from above using tiny pulses of light.

An aircraft or drone flies over your property and sends millions of quick flashes downward. The time it takes those flashes to bounce back tells the computer exactly how high or low every point on your land is. LiDAR’s specialty is detail.

And when I say detailed, I mean detailed enough to see:

Subtle dips where water gathers
Old drainage paths you didn’t know existed
Slight ridges that dry out first in summer
Gentle slopes that look flat to the eye

From that one flight, specialists can create different kinds of maps, such as:

A map that shows the true shape of the ground, with trees and buildings digitally removed
A map that shows the ground plus trees and shelterbelts
A shaded image that makes hills and hollows easy to see
A map that shows which slopes face the sun and which stay cool
A map that predicts how water will flow after a heavy rain

This kind of mapping is especially useful if you are:

Planning water movement (swales, berms, dugouts, drainage)
Trying to understand erosion
Restoring wetlands or riparian areas
Designing roads, corrals, or building sites
Making decisions where inches actually matter

Can you get this for free?

Sometimes.

In Alberta and across Canada, government agencies have flown large areas and made the information publicly available. The data exists — but it can be technical to work with. You may need someone who knows mapping software to turn it into something readable and useful.

Free sources often include:

When would you hire someone?

You might hire a geomatics or survey company if:

Your area hasn’t been mapped yet
You want more detail than the public data provides
You need the information for engineering or regulatory purposes
You want someone else to interpret it and give you clear, ready-to-use maps

If your project involves legal boundaries or certified survey work, you would need a licensed professional through the Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association.

Free sources (Alberta / Canada)

Free data exists in many areas — but you may still need someone to process it into steward-friendly products.

2. Legal Land Surveys

If you need:

Boundary clarification
Subdivision
Easements
Encroachment verification

This is not DIY.

You need a licensed land surveyor.

In Alberta, that means a professional registered through the Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association.

3. Professional Topographic Surveys (Engineering-Grade)

More detailed than basic mapping, these are used for:

Building placement
Drainage design
Road construction
Pond construction
Regulatory approvals

This is a topographical map we had done very early into our tenure here at the homestead. Things have changed somewhat but this map continues to play a role in my land planning. The aqua coloured lines in the upper right quadrant represent a berm project I’m considering.

They often combine:

RTK GNSS – this is a very precise GPS tool that can be accurate down to inches. The GPS on your phone, by contrast, can be off by several feet.
Total station – this looks like a telescope on a tripod. It’s often used for contour maps (more on those later) and can measure angle, elevation and distance.
Drone photogrammetry – this is mapping-by-photos. Think Google Earth.
LiDAR – which you already know about! You clever thing, you.

This is the map you commission when you want to make sure your neighbour’s fence is on his side of the property or that a potential water management strategy is going to do what you want it to do.

4. Soil Surveys & Professional Testing

Provincial soil maps are publicly available, but high-resolution site testing requires:

Lab analysis
Possibly an agrologist or soil specialist

This is a copy of a soil test I had done a few years ago as part of our Animal Welfare certification (for more on that, you can read this). You can see all the various measurements the lab took using a variety of testing methods.

These maps answer:

Texture – the size of the soil particles. Sand has large particles and water will drain quickly. Silt is mid-sized, it feels silky when it’s wet and clay has teensy particles and it’ll hold water until the sun bakes it dry. Texture tells you how your soil handles water and roots.
Salinity – this is dissolved mineral salts in the soil. Higher levels can make it hard for plants to absorb water and decreases germination.
Organic matter – The higher it is (within reason), the more buffered and forgiving your land tends to be.
Nutrient profile – This is what’s actually available for plants to eat. Too little and growth suffers. Too much (especially from repeated inputs can cause other problems.
Limitations – Every soil has built-in constraints. Things like erosion risk, compaction, low organic matter or high salinity. Or, as in our case, a very thin layer before you hit rocks – lots of ’em. Limitations tell you what your soil will struggle with, no matter how much optimism you bring to it.

5. Hydrological & Wetland Delineation Mapping

If wetlands or regulated water bodies are involved, mapping may require:

Qualified wetland professionals
Environmental consultants
Engineers

This is not just ecological — it can be regulatory.

Maps you can make

These are the ones that build stewardship instincts. Instead of instruments and other kinds of expertise, for these kinds of maps, often all you need is some attention, some time and a way to record your observations. These maps are built slowly, season by season.

(If you’re not sure how to “look” at land, or what kinds of observations will be useful, take a look at our Homestead Field Guides. They’re arranged around the seasons and can be a useful tool as you learn this stewardship discipline.)

1. Vegetation Map

Divide your land into zones and record:

Dominant grasses
Native vs tame
Forbs
Shrub regeneration
Bare soil

You can do this with:

A printed aerial photo
A pencil
A clipboard

Repeat yearly. Watch succession.

2. Grazing Pressure Map

Mark:

Date grazed
Duration
Stock density
Recovery days

This becomes your management memory. If you’re not sure about what a grazing pressure map might look like, take a read through our Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing Field Notes! There’s a lot of information there that will help you get started.

Remember, maps don’t have to be “drawings.” They can be sketches, paragraphs, photographs or any representation of the information you’re observing. Build a map that works for your brain, your memory, your land and your skill set. You can refine over time!

3. Microclimate Map

Have you ever walked through a yard, a pasture, a field or any other outdoor space and encountered a temperature change? Congratulations! You may have just stumbled into a microclimate! For these maps, mark:

Frost pockets
Early green-up slopes
Wind corridors
Snow drift zones
Shelter pockets

In chinook country, this map is gold.

4. Wildlife Map

Mark:

Nesting sites — don’t forget to look up AND down. On one occasion while I was wandering through a pasture, a Wilson’s Snipe nesting pair exploded from the ground just in front of me. I about jumped straight into the arms of Jesus.
Game trails — wandering ungulates, foxes, coyotes, God-help-me-bears and more.
Burrows — pocket gophers! Voles!
Pollinator corridors — whither goeth the bugs and butterflies, so goeth the map!
Owl sightings — a common one for us.
Crane sightings — a new one for us!

This shifts you from production mindset to ecosystem mindset.

5. Story Map

Where did:

The first clover return?
The soil soften?
A ewe lamb unassisted?
A berm finally hold?

This is not sentimentality. It is achievement, it is movement, it is evolution – for both land AND steward! It is pattern layered with memory.

A Final Word

Technical maps give you precision while DIY maps give you intimacy. I try to use both when I can and I am shameless about asking for help when I need it. Remember, you don’t need to be an expert land steward — you need to be an expert on YOUR land. Context is everything. After all, a laser can show you a drainage swale but only walking it — day after day, season after season — will teach you how it lives.

This is a Tending post — a practical look at our tools, methods, routines, and on-the-ground decision-making. It’s not a one-size-fits-all how-to, and it isn’t meant to substitute for local knowledge or professional guidance. It’s just what we’ve found useful and what we’re doing here on our farm, in our conditions, with our sheep (and alpacas), written down plainly in case it helps. For more about why we do things the way we do them, the philosophy that informs our process, you’ll find those posts in Living.