Technology in the Woods

By: Jeff Killmer

We have all heard of the benefits of getting less screen time and spending more time in the woods. But the Deer River timber staff have been using tablets in the woods to make their jobs more efficient. In 2021, the Forest Management Service Center (FMSC) in Fort Collins began to develop an Android version of FS Cruiser (V3) timber cruising software, Deer River employees attended the train the trainer sessions and beta tested the software and app, giving their input and recommendations before it was released in the Software Center and Google Play store.

The app allows timber cruisers to record tree cruising measurements in the tablet while in the woods, then downloading the data in the office to their laptops. Saving the steps of recording tree measurements on paper cruise cards and then manually entering cruise cards for a timber sale in the office.

The tablets with the use of the Avenza App are also used for mapping and to GPS timber stand boundaries. Data is downloaded easily into GIS for map creation. These maps are used by timber cruisers, sale administrators and timber purchasers. Some timber purchasers use Avenza, and some have maps downloaded into the computers in their logging equipment.

With the help of GIS staff, Survey 123 forms have also been created for stand recon, data collection and for creating timber sale inspection reports. Tablets can have SD cards added for more data storage for things such as:  maps, air photos, silvicultural prescriptions and sale contract documents and can all be accessed without any cellular signal while working in the woods.