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Business idea, your input appreciated.

Started by Tillaway, April 23, 2003, 06:36:42 PM

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Tillaway

I have had an idea bouncing around in my head and I would like to know if this interests anyone.

I have an interest in GIS and it ties in well with my experience in the woods.  GIS stands for Geographical Information System.  It is a way of linking information about something with its location, basically a database linked to a mapping system.  Common uses are for census reports, demographics, marketing, and utilities and transportation systems management as well as forestry and environmental services.  Its common use in forestry is in inventory.  You can track inventory volumes and depletions, site classifications, timber types, transportation systems and any other data that needs to be tied to some area, point or line.

The software to do this is usually quite expensive and notoriously difficult to use.  This fact excludes its widespread use among small landowners, consultants and basically most of the public.  

The question is, would you be interested in this service for your farm, woodlot or mill if it could be offered for a reasonable price?

I would welcome all input and please ask questions regarding how you could benefit from this.  It will help me decide if it might be something I should pursue.    
Making Tillamook Bay safe for bait; one salmon at a time.

BW_Williams

Tillaway, I use GIS most workdays(barely tapping it's full potential) and think if you could keep the cost down this would be an excellent use.  I sure you're aware of the start up cost.  As far as personally using it, I only have 5 acres and my inventory is pretty easy to keep, I name all the trees!  :D   BWW
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Tillaway

I am exploring a different program other than what is standard for the industry.  It produces the same thing but is supposedly simpler and much less expensive.  It will greatly reduce costs to the point of it being very affordable making it viable for non traditional users.

Some markets I would be trying to reach are small consultants in the evironmental services (biologists) and forestry for example.  Also this would be useful for woodlot owners with say 100 acres or more.  I know that producing professional quality maps is time consuming and tedious for small firms.
Making Tillamook Bay safe for bait; one salmon at a time.

OneWithWood

Great idea Till.  I would certainly be interested in such a product.  A wonderful feature would be some import capabilities that would except .xls files.  Before my last harvest I had inventoried about 25 out of 100 acres using a GPS and an iPAQ hand held.  It would have been great if I could have uploaded the info onto a topo of the property.  Now that I intend to do most of the harvesting myself a good inventory is becoming quite desirable.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Texas Ranger

Till, great idea, but, great ideas end up with the necessity of marketing.  As a consultant, I don't use GIS, all my mapping is from the ground with color reversal infrared aerial photos.  If I were in the 1000 acre plus tracts most of the time, GIS would prove essential.  Mine are usually smaller, and can be handled with current materials and equipment.

Selling to the market will be a narrow road with specific customers in mind.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Ron Wenrich

I'm so uninformed in GPS and GIS systems, I don't know if it would be of any use.  When you start looking at the mill level here in the east, there is very little computer savy.

Inventories are far and few between.  The only time they count trees is when they're going to be cut.  

Got any good websites that can explain how this technology is better than my dot grid system?
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Tillaway

Ron here is one link.
http://maps.unomaha.edu/Peterson/gis/Final_Projects/1997/KKane/Project.html
Follow some more from there.  One way the mills here use GIS is to keep track of land ownerships and determine logging cost for appraisal work.  You could put all of the partial map info regarding zoning and individual ownership in a database tied to timber typing for the whole area you buy in.  You can link that to your mills local volume tables so if you go talk to a landowner you will have his lands typed with acreages and a volume already attached and know if there is any conditions in the local area effecting lumber quality.  Basically its a way to track information and relate it to some sort of map or image.  I am not doing a real good job of explaining because the information you can store and track spatially can boogle your imagination.  

Don,
That is what I would be trying to do is bring GIS to folks like yourself.  I think why it is used more commonly out here though is because of regulation.  Most smaller firms here don't use it either mainly becuase of the startup costs associated with it.  

Here is a list of maps that have to be created and editted for submittal the various State and Federal agencies.

Silviculture map showing site class and prescription with acreages for each.

Logging Systems harvest showing units,  roads, landings, tractor logging areas under 50% slope, Tractor Logging areas over 50% slope with each skid trail mapped, Cable areas by type, Helicopter areas each with acreages for each type.

Water course maps showing stream classes and all crossings by type and class, also this map has to show every spring.

Soils map showing soil types and erosion hazzard ratings and high erosion hazzard areas delineated with acreages for all.

Archeology map showing the locations of all known Arch sites sometimes with maps show survey routes if the data doesn't already exist.

Wildlife maps showing habitat types, survey stations/routes and nesting sites.

Plant maps showing all known threaten plants or habitat.

We also have to create a bunch of working maps that we have to update as we find more things or change everything.

As you can see we are pretty much buried with paper here.
Making Tillamook Bay safe for bait; one salmon at a time.

Frank_Pender

Tllaway, this whole thought is blowing my mind.  I am even less knowledgeable that Ron W..  But, I can see a massive use for people such as myself that are doing lots of consulting with small woodland owners.  I am now expanding into helping with water issues through some specialized training with the OSU Extension Service.   Wow! is my comment.   Do you ever get up this way, at all?   Thisd concept sounds like a winner to me at this time.  However, I am a very slow learner when it comes to the newer tech "stuff".   Keep us posted, please.
Frank Pender

Tillaway

Frank
I used to live not too far from you.  Currently my wife applies for jobs only in Oregon.  She just missed one over in Tillamook.  Currently she has two applications out, one in Tillamook and one in Madras.  She is bound to get one sometime, I hope.

Right now I am just trying to guage intrest.  I am on the steepest part of the GIS learning curve.  The real art is the database management.

Its kind of funny, one of the guys I work with calls me the techno-forester.  I am always looking at the new high tech stuff and trying to integrate it.
Making Tillamook Bay safe for bait; one salmon at a time.

hawby

Tillaway,

Go for it! My best Army buddy (who got the GI Bill), went to Yale to get his computer science degree. He ran into an old girl friend, who said her husband was working on a similiar program for the pharmaceutical industry. However, he was having a problem with one certain calculation.

Well, Ricky (whom I believe is 1/3rd pitbull) sunk his teeth into the problem. 3 cases of Coke, two packages of sesame seeds, and 72 hours later; He solved the calculation. Seven years later he sold his share of the 150 employee company for several million $$$$. (Now if Congress would have given us GIs that served from 1978 to 82 the Bill, would I have made several Mill too????)

Anyway, I would use an economical version, not only for the forestry implications, but for keeping track of my whitetails, turkeys, ...... :D

Good luck and if you make that $$$$Million, remember us that encouraged you :)
Hawby

Missin' loggin', but luvin' the steady check...

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