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As one of the few countries in Latin America to have reversed persistent losses in tree cover, Chile may hold important insights for forest transition theory. However, existing studies have not provided methodologically consistent analyses at sufficient temporal and spatial scales to properly assess the state of Chile's forest transition. In the current study, we generate high-resolution maps of Chilean land use change between 1986, 2001 and 2011. We couple remote sensing with a review of historic assessments of Chile's forest resources to document long-term trends in forest extent. This historical review identifies multiple discrete forest transitions throughout Chile's history. These fluctuations in forest clearing emphasize that the cultural, economic and political forces that precipitate forest transitions can all be reversed. The remote sensing analysis calls into question official statistics indicating an expansion of native …