Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Forest Planning
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Sustained Yield Calculation and Habitat Conservation Plan Support MB&G developed a timber harvest scheduling model and performed a sustained yield calculation for the the 700,000+ state forest trust acres managed byMontana DNRC. MB&G then enhanced that model and performed the forest management modeling to support the DNRC’s effort to develop a habitat conservation plan, which was completed in 2010. Some years prior, the agency had completed a planning process that established objectives and management guidelines, but had not yet made a harvest calculation. We worked closely with DNRC’s silviculturalist, inventory forester, and fish and wildlife biologists to complete that work. DNRC had an extensive stand-level inventory – polygons delineated and typed across a wide variety of characteristics. We developed a variety of management regimes for each type, ranging from high-intensity even-aged regimes (plant, PCT, CT, final harvest) to low-intensity uneven-aged regimes designed to create a more complex forest structure. Several regimes were designed to create and maintain old-growth characteristics, or conditions for specific wildlife habitats such as lynx denning habitat, elk winter range, riparian areas, etc. Using data layers provided by DNRC, MB&G prepared all of the GIS layers needed to represent the land base in the forest management model. There were about 15 layers that were important in various parts of the modeling effort. We helped DNRC select and calibrate a growth model to meet expectations and observations. MB&G built a timber harvest scheduling model using the USFS Spectrum program. The linear programming-based model used an extensive set of constraints to represent a wide variety of management objectives and regulatory constraints....
Montana Fish & Willdlife Forest Inventory and Sustainable Yield Project
MB&G was contracted by the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks to complete two phases of a forest inventory and sustainable yield study. The second phase included the development of an integrated Esri geodatabase to monitor and track timber inventory and infrastructure maintenance.
Hancock Forestland Modeling and Management Services
MB&G supports Hancock Natural Resource Group with geospatial applications, forestry support services, and strategic planning.
Brazil Forestland Acquisition
MB&G validated data quality using high-resolution imagery to perform an audit of 200,000 hectare land acquisition in Brazil.