Carroll Appointed to SAF Committee on Forest Policy

The Society of American Foresters (SAF) President John W. McMulty has appointed Austin D. Carroll to serve as a member of the SAF Committee on Forest Policy (CFP).  Founded in 1900 by Gifford Pinchot, the SAF is the national scientific and educational orgnization representing the forestry profession in the United States.  SAF has a 12,000-member community that has held true to its original objective to bring forestry and natural resources professionals together and keep them informed about the latest advances in forest science and management.  The CFP is an advisory group tasked with developing and revising SAF’s national position statements, and advising the Society’s Government Affairs and External Relations Team on legislative and administrative proposals. CFP members are selected based on their professional background and expertise from diverse and representative geographic areas and work in positions throughout the broad field of forestry.

Mr. Carroll, a partner at Southern Forestry Consultants and Vice-President of its environmental subsidiary, Wiregrass Ecological Associates, has been a member of SAF since 2001.  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.  Mr. Carroll has spent his career identifying and resolving natural and water resources management and policy issues, especially those in forestry and forested ecosystems.  Mr. Carroll’s appointment to the SAF CFP will run through December 31, 2021.

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The mission of the Society of American Foresters is to advance sustainable management of forest resources through science, education, and technology; to enhance the competency of its members; to establish professional excellence; and to use our knowledge, skills, and conservation ethic to ensure the continued health, integrity, and use of forests to benefit society in perpetuity. – www.eforester.org

 

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.