Carroll Discusses Landscape Management Planning at ATFS Leadership Conference

The American Forest Foundation (AFF) kicked off its annual American Tree Farm System (ATFS) National Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky this week. Southern Forestry Consultants (SFC) and Wiregrass Ecological Associates (WEA) were excited to have Austin Carroll invited to speak during the conference on the future of landscape management plans in the ATFS. Landscape management plans are a growing, valuable tool to help navigate one of the biggest barriers to landowner forest management and forest certification, the management plan itself.

Mr. Carroll, a Registered Forester who led the development of the initial ATFS Landscape Management Plan (LMP) during the Florida panhandle pilot project, spoke during the session titled, Landscape Management Plans: Where to Next? He discussed lessons learned during the pilot project and how those lessons are being used to implement additional landscape plans throughout the country. SFC and WEA are currently working with AFF to lead the efforts for creating state-wide LMPs in Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. Through coordination with partners and stakeholders in each state, Mr. Carroll and the SFC/WEA team are developing this innovative tool to advance forest certification opportunities and encourage forest management.

Mr. Carroll, a partner at SFC and Vice-President at WEA, previously presented at this conference during 2017 when it was in Greenville, South Carolina. He holds a BS and MS from Mississippi State University in Forestry and Wildlife and Fisheries Science, respectively. He earned his MBA from the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida. His work at WEA includes developing and creating landscape level biodiversity strategies for industrial forest resource companies to meet forest certification objectives.

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The American Forest Foundation (AFF), is a forest conservation organization that works on-the-ground with family forest owners, partners and elected officials to promote stewardship and protect our nation’s forest heritage. A commitment to the next generation unites our nationwide network of forest owners working to keep our forests healthy and producing the clean water, wildlife habitat and sustainable wood supplies that all Americans count on from forests. The American Tree Farm System® (ATFS), administered by AFF, is a sustainability program that provides family and private forest owners with support and tools to ensure their forests deliver the clean water, wildlife habitat and sustainable wood supplies all Americans count on. – https://www.forestfoundation.org/

Bourgoin joins WEA as Project Manager

Wiregrass Ecological Associates, LLC is pleased to announce that Stefan Bourgoin has joined our team as a Project Manager and Senior Biologist. Mr. Bourgoin holds a B.S. degree from Birmingham-Southern College in Biology and M.S. degree from Florida State in Biological Oceanography. He is also a Certified Ecologist with the Ecological Society of America and active in the Tallahassee Association of Environmental Professionals.

Most recently, Mr. Bourgoin served in Tallahassee, Florida as a Senior Scientist within the Southeastern Sciences Group for Atkins, an international consulting firm. Prior to leaving Atkins, Mr. Bourgoin served proficiently in both the coastal marine and terrestrial ecology environments. He has over 9 years of environmental science and project management experience working with clients in the aviation, energy, governmental, real estate, and transportation market sectors.

Mr. Bourgoin’s expertise includes resolving environmental-related aviation issues, natural and water resources management and policy, regulatory permit acquisition and compliance/reporting (including NEPA), and ecological research and monitoring in ecosystems across the southeastern U.S, ranging from Louisiana to South Carolina.

His past experience has given him extensive knowledge of aquatic and terrestrial habitat management and  conservation practices; stream condition index (SCI) implementation; water quality assessment; wildlife and
fisheries population management; silvicultural and mitigation area design and management; threatened and endangered species surveys, relocations, and management; Geographic Information System (GIS) desktop and field-based implementation; and coastal restoration following anthropogenic impacts.

We are excited to have Mr. Bourgoin join our team in a project management role and bring his expertise in marine, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems to our clients. He looks forward to meeting with current and new clients to discuss their environmental needs.

Hurricane Michael Category 5 Wreaks Havoc

Hurricane Michael’s category 5 force winds wreaked havoc on the forestland in the panhandle of Florida, Southwest Georgia, and Southeast Alabama.  The chaos that followed left landowners across the region wondering what to do next. As consultants, we scrambled to secure opportunities to salvage what was left of our clients’ long-term investments, realizing the impossibility of getting to all the damaged wood in the region.  As the state and federal legislatures deliberated about how to provide assistance, several agencies offered relief and/or direction on how to proceed. See the links below for important information pertaining to relief programs.

 

SFC partners with Lim Geomatics of Ottowa, Canada to offer the next generation of forest technologies for digital transformation in forestry

Southern Forestry Consultants (SFC), a U.S. company with over three decades of forestry management experience in the southeastern U.S. meets the innovation engine of a top tier Canadian geomatics firm with an international portfolio. Southern Forestry Consultants and Lim Geomatics create a strategic partnership to kickstart the digital transformation of the forestry industry.

“We were aligned right off the bat,” says Dr. Kevin Lim, president and founder of Lim Geomatics. “They’re bringing the forestry expertise. We’re bringing the GIS, geomatics and IT technology.”

Southern Forestry stewards 500,000 acres of forest on behalf of mostly private landowners with properties that stretch across the southeastern U.S. The company integrates economic, recreation, wildlife management and environmental priorities into cohesive forest management systems. “We have been in business since 1987,” says Michael Dooner, founder and president of SFC. “In that 31 years, we have developed and implemented strategies that are in many ways now accepted as the appropriate ways of managing southeastern forests.”

The foresters, wildlife biologists and land managers at SFC have honed the company’s benchmark methodologies over countless hours in the field. This boots-on-the-ground know how will help inform the Lim Geomatics’ innovation engine. “They are the subject matter experts,” Lim says. “They’re going to allow us to ground the tech side within the pure forestry domain.”

Founded in 2006, Lim Geomatics already plays a pivotal role in how geospatial technologies are transforming the forestry sector. Lim published the original research on how remotely sensed LiDAR data can be used to create enhanced forest inventories. The firm also develops web-based and mobile applications that improve how companies collect and use geospatial data at each stage of forestry operations. “We feel very strongly that they are the leading North American geomatics firm in the natural resources field,” Dooner says. “The goal is to take Lim Geomatics’ ability to create the future and apply it to present-day forest management practices.”

The next wave of Lim innovation will incorporate the field experience of veteran foresters. SFC and Lim Geomatics are developing solutions and tools for foresters by foresters. Sophisticated geospatial technologies will integrate with silvicultural systems that have been refined over decades. “It’s something we’ve thought about for years,” Lim says. “We can’t get there without someone helping us to put the pieces together.”

This alliance was forged in response to a groundswell of demand from within the forestry industry for new and better ways of applying technology. Lim Geomatics and SFC have joined forces to kickstart nothing short of a paradigm shift. “We’re not just looking to create the next normal iteration of a digital solution,” Dooner says. “We’re looking to exponentially advance the use of technology in forest management.”

The cross-border partnership is an industry game changer. Lim Geomatics and SFC have the experience and the vision to pioneer next generation digital solutions that are firmly rooted in the complex practice of a rugged industry. The future of forestry begins at the intersection of innovative geospatial technology and decades of field experience under the canopy.