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CONCLUSIONS 
The status review of the provincial front indicates that 
the level of participation in the remote sensing program is 
remarkably uneven. Although many reasons could be identified, 
local policies and priorities exert the major influence on the 
situation. Yet, all provincial governments in Canada are 
conscious of resource, land use and environmental management, 
as well as budget. If remote sensing achievements are projected 
onto this consciousness, provincial benefits should become 
obvious. 
As for the actual activities in progress now, unfortunately, 
in the majority of provinces the plans of committees and func 
tions of existing centres do not emphasize interpretation, let 
alone multidisciplinary interpretation. The main tasks seem 
to be limited to information service to the public, lending 
available interpretation equipment, and constituting a mechanical 
link between the province and the Canada Centre for Remote 
Sensing. 
I believe that without intensive interpretation production 
at the regional centres, the process of introducing remote 
sensing into the society can be only slow. Further, isolated 
interpreters often duplicate the discovery of and solution to 
problems, each through his own perspective, while as a team 
of specialists, they could devote otherwise wasted energy to 
further productivity. For example, a townsite selection by 
photo interpretation can be made separately by a geomorphologist, 
a forester or a civil engineer. Yet each report might not be 
fully satisfactory in the light of the other two. In addition 
to having professional advantages of working together, the 
multidisciplinary specialists working in an interpretation 
laboratory equipped with modern instruments have full-time 
access to the most desirable tools. Since it is most practical 
to centralize expensive equipment, due to the costly capital 
investment and the efficiency of modern systems, a team of 
specialists in a well-equipped interpretation lab can best prove 
the value and economy of remote sensing. 
But where are these interpretation talents? Many resource 
surveys, based on intensive use of aerial photographs, were 
initiated by federal and provincial governments in the early 
sixties. This has gradually produced expertise in image inter 
pretation through research and production. In particular, 
forest inventories, land capability inventories, forest 
protection, highway engineering, geological and geophysical 
surveys, fish and wildlife and water resources management, land 
use planning, agricultural crop inventory, and many other 
programs have been using the recognized and hidden interpreta 
tion talents of both professionals and technicians.