Forestry Management
February 27, 1997
 
Forest Resource GIS Implementation
Spruce Falls Inc.
 
The Woodlands Division of Spruce Falls Inc. in Kapuskasing, Ontario, manages over 1,600,000 hectares of the Gorden Cousens Forest under a Sustainable Forest Licence with the Province of Ontario. The objective of Spruce Falls is to maintain a continuous wood supply for their substantial newsprint (360,000 tonnes per year) and lumber mill (approximately 1000 million fbm of stud lumber per year) operations within a healthy, diverse and multiple-use forest. Spruce Falls has been utilizing Hunter GIS software as an integral part of their management and reporting process since 1986. Hunter GIS played a key role in the successful implementation of Spruce Falls' Timber Management Plan, which involved evaluating alternatives for scheduling of stand-by-stand harvests to meet management, economic and environmental objectives. To quote the Manager of Forestry Services in a 1991 letter:

"Hunter GIS hardware, software and professional support was invaluable to Spruce Falls' efforts to meet the Timber Management planning requirements within extremely tight deadlines. I would like to highlight the fact that during the period between November 1990 and February 1991, no software support calls were made by our staff. This was one of the busiest periods in the preparation of the Timber Management Plan and is a substantiation to the reliability and relative ease in the use of Hunter's software."

When Spruce Falls received their Forest Resource Inventory (FRI) in digital format from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in 1989, Hunter GIS was already an important management tool for their operational planning process and monitoring program for a large portion of their active woodland operations. With the incorporation of a digital inventory, Spruce Falls was able to expand analysis to strategic levels looking at wood supply for the entire forest. The inventory database contains over 100,000 polygons on 211 original 1:20,000 scale map sheets.

Management of Spruce Falls forest limits is accomplished with three Hunter GIS software licences. Spruce Falls' GIS technology is networked allowing central GIS file storage and sharing of peripherals. Eight other desktop and notebook computers are networked to the GIS computers and operate CAD, spreadsheet, word processing and relational database management software and act as receiving stations for off loading of digital field recorders for modern integrated woodlands operation support. Dial-up access of software and data files is now in place. Testing is underway to explore the integration of GPS technology to located and guide harvesting equipment in the field.

Forestry applications developed by Hunter GIS and Spruce Falls include:

  • development of individual map sheet and limits-wide batch file processing and graphic presentation procedures
     
  • preparation of map sheet proof queries and plots for quality assurance
     
  • file editing and updating to ensure correct topology and content
     
  • creation of lake buffers and reprocessing of files
     
  • preparation of tabular summaries by age-class and working group
     
  • breakdown and reclassification of species composition codes as required for wood supply modelling
     
  • integration of annual operation planning and work scheduling with longer term planning
     
  • measurement of inventory application utilizing data downloads from digitial field recorders
     
  • forest management compliance auditing
     
  • technology transfer and staff training

The entire forestry database can be operated on a single Pentium-based microcomputer utilizing Hunter GIS and SQL relational database management software. The Hunter GIS environment provides a complete and economical GIS solution for comprehensive inventory, analysis and modelling for sustainable forest management.

 © 2001, Hunter GIS