###### Abstract  
Effective forest management systems based on comprehensive tools need to be developed for the analysis and assessment of forest cover change. This requires a wide range of data, starting from old maps, which allow the reconstruction of spatially referenced information on past forest areas, to recently collected data. The research methodology proposed in this paper involves a combined analysis of data from different sources, using statistical, comparative, and visual analysis methods. The case study is Jurbarkas District of the Republic of Lithuania characterized by a high land productivity score. The research found that the highest forest cover areas were in the 19 th century and the lowest in the 20 th century. It can be seen that during the period under research, forest areas'migrated' from an area favorable for agricultural activities to a less favorable area with higher slopes. Permanent forest cover areas and the age of the dominant trees have been identified. The age of the trees in the forest areas has allowed for the identification of the periods when the most intensive logging took place. The rate of forest cover change made it possible to predict the total disappearance of the forest areas provided that the factors influencing forest cover change at that time remained unchanged. If the trends in forest change in Jurbarkas District had been maintained in the period between the 19 th and 20 th centuries, the forest would have disappeared in 2006.  
historical GIS; forest cover dynamics; military topographic maps; CORINE Land Cover; rate of change in forest cover area; permanent forest areas; spatial and statistical analysis [sub] [  
diminishing that occurred due to anthropogenic impacts, control these processes, and plan forest restoration. Forest areas in Europe have been affected by many factors for a long time [10]. The most important of these factors, given that the climate has remained relatively constant for 4500 years, has been an anthropogenic effect. The current structure of forests, the occupied areas, the configuration of the areas, and the distribution of tree species reflect the result of the effects of deforestation, spontaneous regrowth, and replanting that have taken place over the years [11; 12; 13; 14]. As the human population grew, the need for wood to meet various needs, such as fuel, construction, tar production, etc., increased [13; 15]. Forest cover occupied land areas needed for agriculture. The first more intensive efforts to reduce forest areas began to meet the needs of agriculture when there was a need to convert the land occupied by the forest into land areas used for agriculture [16]. The change in forest areas did not take place in isolation from the increase in the areas needed for animal husbandry and agriculture; it was tightly connected with the change in the scale of these activities. However, as long as the human population was relatively small, the effect on the area forest coverage was not very significant and increased proportionally to the increase in the human population [13]. Population growth and the impact on forest areas are not the same in all European countries and have been predetermined by various reasons [13; 17; 18; 19]. The biggest jump in population growth during the industrial period occurred due to the progress of science, leading to the development of industry, the development of urbanized territories, and the application of more advanced tools and methods in agriculture. Most states did not have a targeted legal base that would apply the legal regulation to filling and the protection of forest areas, taking into account ecological indicators and the aspiration of maintaining a certain percentage of the forest coverage of the country's territory until the 20 th century. As a result, forests in Western Europe were cut down in most areas in the pre-industrial period; in some countries, the forest coverage of the territory has become small because forests have given way to areas of arable land and pastures [13].