ForestryGIS Solutions for the Natural Resource Manager

ESRI™

natural resource

ESRI software is the number one choice of naturalresource professionals who have already recognizedthe value of using GIS as a decision support tool.Using GIS software from ESRI, foresters and naturalresource managers have discovered how traditionaltasks can be performed more efficiently and howmany tasks previously impractical or impossible cannow be easily accomplished.

Here are a few areas that can benefit from usingGIS in natural resource management:

• Ecosystem Management• Environmental Compliance• Strategic Planning• Fire Management and Control• Silvicultural Activities• Forest Access and Road Planning• Pest Management• Urban Forestry

ESRI ® GIS Software

Helping the Natural Resource Manager

Managing natural resources in today’s ever-changingworld has become a complex and demanding challengeto resource managers. Planning, production, businesschallenges, and environmental regulations often presentthemselves as conflicting issues facing the naturalresource decision maker.

Geographic information system (GIS) softwaresolutions have helped foresters, wildlife managers,and natural resource professionals meet or exceedthe demands placed on them. GIS gives you aunique look at the resources under your care andprovides ways to analyze and visualize thoseresources in ways not possible before. ESRI®

software provides the tools to help developlong-term available supply strategies, forecastsof silvicultural stock, harvesting system options,and many more.

Only ESRI offers an integrated, complete line ofsoftware solutions ranging from desktop solutionsto high-end data management tools capable ofmanaging very large databases of geographicinformation and descriptive attributes in a continuous,seamless way. This range of solutions is well suited forcontemporary natural resource managers faced with themyriad of today’s complex issues.

management

Ecosystem Management

Many people and organizations have tried to fully describeor clarify ecosystem management. In simplistic terms, it isa process of managing natural resources based on decisionmaking that incorporates an understanding of local andregional information about ecological and humansocioeconomic interactions and the connection betweenthem. ESRI software makes it possible to evaluate theindividual factors and to apply analytical models thatcombine those factors based on the resource manager’sconcept of their interrelationships. GIS can be used toassist the resource manager’s development of short- andlong-term management strategies from the informationderived by a better understanding of all the related factors.

ESRI GIS technology provides all the tools necessary toefficiently describe, analyze, and model ecosystemprocesses and functions. Interactions and complex

Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. By land is meant all

of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a

friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you

cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste

the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one

organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and cooperate

with each other. The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as

the cooperations. You can regulate them—cautiously—but not abolish them.

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television or

radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the

most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. The last word in

ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: “What good is it?” If the

land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand

it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not

understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep

every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.

Aldo Leopold, Round River

relationships among diverse ecosystem components can beexplored and visualized using the most powerful analyticaland visualization tools available.

The GIS overlay and analysis of demographic data andecological data can be used to derive valuable informationthat is not possible toknow through othermethods. Thisinformation can then beused to maintain andrestore ecologicalsystems and at the sametime foster humandevelopment patternsthat are compatibleecologically, economically, and politically.

Strategic Planning

Forest management planning requires forecasting thecondition of a forest relative to planned managementactivities. This ability is crucial to nearly all aspects offorest management forecasting, particularly long-termsustained yield of wood products and wildlife populations.

GIS can play a key role in forecasting. GIS stores both thegeographic location and descriptive attributes (e.g., size,species composition, vertical structure, volume, site index)of the forests being managed. Planning models aredeveloped or incorporated into the GIS. Within the limitsof the model and the spatial data, the forest manager canthen incorporate temporal and spatial dimensions into theplanning process. The results of the model can be mappedto show what the forest will look like in five, 10, 20, or 100years in the future.

GIS models can also be used to support forest planningpractices that emulate, within the bounds of silviculturalrequirements, natural disturbances and landscape patterns.It is possible, using ESRI software, to determine existingfragmentation, patch size and distribution, and corridors ofundisturbed forest cover, and to model and visualize futureconditions.

Fire Management and Control

Every year, wildfires destroy valuable natural resources,injure or kill firefighters and innocent bystanders, threatenendangered species, and cause a tremendous amount ofproperty damage and economic loss. Controllingwildfires utilizes money that might otherwise be used forother natural resource management activities.

The ability to understand the direction, speed, intensity,fuel loads, and burn areas of wildfires is critical tolong-term wildfire management planning and effectivesuppression strategies. Monitoring the direction of smokeplumes caused by wildfires is also important. Smoke canspread into environmentally sensitive areas or intodeveloped areas, causing loss of life, property damage,and reduced visibility that can affect travel, tourism, andthe visual quality of scenic areas.

ESRI GIS technology can help forest managers andresponse teams plan resources effectively. It can be usedto model and map the spread of a fire and determine itsintensity. It can be used to tactically plan and manage firesuppression ground crews. GIS can also be used to modelthe dispersion of a smoke plume. More importantly, GIScan be used before a fire occurs to help plan preventionand response strategies. ESRI software can be used toanalyze resource data, population and housing patterns,weather patterns, and a variety of other data to identifypotential risk areas and to target potentially high-riskareas for prevention activities that will have the highestoverall impact for each dollar spent.

In recent years, a growing number of people have sought thepeace and beauty associated with living in or near areas ofabundant natural resources. These wildland–urban interfaceareas are increasingly becoming a challenge to resourcemanagers when faced with the risks and associated losses fromwildfire. Many local and county governments are now usingESRI software to identify and develop mitigation strategies forwildfire hazards in wildland–urban interface areas. Resourcemanagers are combining expertise in hazard assessment, forestmanagement, wildfire behavior, and fire suppression with GIStechnology to target areas of high risk for mitigation strategies.ESRI GIS software also helps educate and motivate the publicin high-risk areas through the use of maps and graphics thathighlight potential high-risk neighborhoods.

identify patternstarget high-risk areas

focus response activities

Environmental Compliance

Many natural resource organizations are faced with avariety of laws and regulations that control land-disturbingactivities. Government and private organizations mustoften analyze their activities before resource managementtakes place on the ground.

GIS technology can significantly improve the efficiency ofcompliance with regulations like the NationalEnvironmental Policy Act of 1969, whose purpose is

Other regulations, either state or federally imposed orthrough the self-regulation of private interests, can also besupported through the use of ESRI software. GIS softwareenables the user to perform complex comparisons ofmultiple layers of data, locate and describe uniquephenomena, and estimate and display future conditionsthrough the use of predictive models.

Alternatives can be analyzed and visualized using GIStechnology. The presentation of a series of map graphicscan visually illustrate alternatives in a way no writtendocument can. ESRI GIS technology helps heightenpublic involvement by disseminating valuable informationthrough hard-copy maps, digital data, and GIS-enabledInternet browsers.

“To declare a nationalpolicy which will encourageproductive and enjoyableharmony between man andhis environment; topromote efforts which willprevent or eliminatedamage to the environmentand biosphere andstimulate the health andwelfare of man; to enrichthe understanding of theecological systems andnatural resources importantto the Nation; and toestablish a Council onEnvironmental Quality.”

Urban Forestry

Trees are a major part of our community environment.Urban trees provide many environmental, aesthetic, andeconomic benefits. Heating and cooling costs are reducedby locating trees around homes and businesses. Treesprovide needed windbreaks in open areas, reduce soilerosion and mass movement, and reduce storm runoff.Property values are dramatically increased by well-placed,mature trees.

ESRI software solutions are helping local communitiesaround the world inventory and manage their urban forests.An urban tree inventory includes the gathering of accurateinformation on the health and diversity of a community’sforest. How many trees are there? What kind? What istheir condition? You cannot manage a community foresteffectively unless you know its condition.

Utilizing GIS to manage and analyze a community’s urbanforest resources provides the urban forester with the abilityto easily input, update, and maintain all of the informationcontained in an urban tree inventory; analyze trends ininsect and disease outbreaks; and locate and identifypotential hazard areas. An urban tree inventory combinedwith other readily available GIS data layers such as streetcenterlines, municipal boundaries, and hydrologic featurescan be used to target future planting, manage existingresources, and support public involvement and participationin an urban tree program.

Planning ahead for supply and demand of ournatural resources.

Silvicultural Activities

GIS technology provides the tools necessary to preparesilvicultural work plans, manage silvicultural activities, andmonitor their success. Whether you’re trying to developprescriptions to mimic natural patterns or manage largetreatment contracts, ESRI has software tools that will helpyou do it better and more efficiently. Robust datamanagement tools will help you track detailed informationover time and space, and sophisticated analytical tools willhelp you better analyze environmental consequences andmonitor the efficacy of prescribed treatments.

Forest Access and Road Planning

ESRI application tools allow harvest planners todynamically assign timing of access and haul costattributes to the existing inventory database for road accessalternatives. When combined with other forest standfeatures such as species composition and merchantablevolume, it is possible to analyze the effect road networkdesign has on delivered wood costs. Other applications ofroad and forest access planning performed by ESRI usersinclude

• Terrain and slope stability analysis• Cut and fill estimates• Visibility and view shed analysis• Alignment and grade calculations• Right-of-way corridor studies• Environmental impact assessment• Integration of survey data• Cost and flow analysis

Pest Management

GIS technology plays a crucial role in managing forestpests. From tracking outbreaks from year to year todeveloping treatment strategies, ESRI software can help

you get a handle on forest pests such asgypsy moths, mountain pine beetles,and dwarf mistletoe. Tracking pestinfestations year to year is easy withGIS, and the analytical tools make short

work of trend analysis, modelingoutbreak projections, and

treatment strategies.

infestation analysisand treatment strategies

Copyright © 1999 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. ESRI, ARC/INFO, andArcView are trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., registered in the United States andcertain other countries; registration is pending in the European Community. The ArcView GIS logo and theESRI globe logo are trademarks and @esri.com and www.esri.com are service marks of EnvironmentalSystems Research Institute, Inc. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of their respective trademark owners.

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For over 30 years ESRI has been helping people manage and analyze geographic information. ESRI offers a framework forimplementing GIS in any organization with a seamless link from personal GIS on the desktop to enterprisewide GIS client/server

and data management systems. ESRI GIS solutions are flexible and can be customized to meet the needs of our users.ESRI is a full-service GIS company, ready to help you begin, grow, and build success with GIS.

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