Forest Management Information Systems - A Small Business Approach to Managing Timber Inventory and GIS Data

R. Combs

Orbis GIS Inc., Charlotte, NC

The expanding use of geographic information systems (GIS) in forestry organizations of all sizes has increased dramatically over the last five years. GIS is quickly becoming a standard tool for the forest management professional, as essential as a compass and a diameter tape. However, the use of GIS in the management of timber inventory data has yet to become as common as one might think. Currently the use of forest management information systems has been reserved for large forest products companies and consulting firms. These organizations have the resources and technical staff required to implement forest management information systems at the scale necessary to manage hundreds of thousands to millions of acres of timber inventory and GIS data. Their size affords them the ability to bear the expense and commitment to building a complete forest management information system. Where does this leave the small to mid-size forestry companies and those organizations that cannot afford to implement a multi-million dollar information system? The purpose of this paper will be to explore alternative solutions that are available to managing timber inventory and GIS data without having to develop an enterprise type information system. The paper will describe what information and technology is required to develop an information system at a smaller scale to support forest management operations. Actual examples will be provided describing how smaller forestry organizations and businesses are addressing the issue of forest information management and several options will be presented to how smaller to mid-sized forestry organizations can implement complete forest management information systems into their current business operations.

Keywords: data management, accuracy, forest management information systems

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