Island Lecture Series: Doug Sobey on the Pre-settlement Forests of Western Prince Edward Island Based on the Survey-books of Alexander Anderson (1795-1884)
The Island Lecture Series presents an illustrated talk by Dr. Doug Sobey on the historical forest composition of PEI in the mid-1800s based on the survey-books of Alexander Anderson (1795-1884), government surveyor for Prince County from the 1830s to the 1870s. The Island Lecture Series will be held on September 16, 2025, at 7 pm, in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building Room 201, 海角社区.
Because many of Anderson鈥檚 survey lines, especially his road lines and township boundary lines, ran over land that had not yet been cleared of forest, collectively, his more than 2,700 forest descriptions constitute a valuable body of information on the composition of the pre-settlement forests, especially in the area west of Summerside. Sobey鈥檚 analysis of the survey-books resulted in the identification of eighteen distinct pre-settlement forest-types, most of which no longer occur in the region: nine are in 鈥渦pland鈥� habitats and nine in 鈥渓owland,鈥� upland referring to the region鈥檚 drier well-drained soils, and lowland to the region鈥檚 imperfectly-drained, and especially to its poorly-drained soils. Sobey will reveal how the forest that Anderson encountered bears no comparison to the remnant degraded woodland of today.
Doug Sobey has taught at various institutions in Northern Ireland for thirty years, including the University of Ulster. Eleven of his monographs on the present and historical forests of the Island have been published by the Island government, along with historical papers in the Island Magazine. He co-authored a book on Samuel Holland鈥檚 1765 survey of Prince Edward Island, and he contributed a chapter on the Island鈥檚 forest history to Time and a Place 鈥� An Environmental History of Prince Edward Island.
The lecture is free, and all are welcome. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at Island Studies Press, 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.
