From Loggers to LIDAR: Forestry Needs Tech

When Chris Laing graduated as a Registered Professional Forester back in the early 1990s, he was still walking the woods, hand-drawing maps.

Now, barely 30 years later, technology has entirely replaced his early skills. As the manager of the Powell River Community Forest, GIS, GPS and LIDAR help him plan a more environmentally-sensitive, financiallybeneficial working forest. In the past decade, the Community Forest has pumped more than $16 million into Powell River to build projects such as the Bike Park. (See prcommunityforest.ca for the 2019 annual report).

“LIDAR – essentially a fancy laser - has had a huge impact on how we manage our forests,” said Chris. “I know the height of every tree over 7,100 hectares, to within 10 centimetres. We can see how they’re growing over time. It saves on fieldwork and improves on how we’re doing things out there.”

That becomes important for competing internationally. Chris noted that many countries are producing lumber and plywood. Currently, Asia and Europe are experiencing “their version of the pine beetle,” said Chris, which has put a lot of wood on the market.

One of the Community Forest’s local contractors, Russ Parsons, who owns TILT Contracting, notes that BC’s forest sector is just starting to catch up to New Zealand and Europe’s forestry technology.

“Back in the day, technology meant hydraulics,” said Russ. “Now the entire operation can be run with virtual goggles, almost.”

His newest machine is specialized for logging on steep slopes. Hand fallers have, until now, been responsible for this notoriously dangerous work.

“It’s allowed us to have one guy out there fall a tree and yard it with nobody on the ground at all, or very minimal. Every year, we’ve been getting quicker, as machines let us be more productive per hour.”

EVERY TREE, MAPPED: Technology in the Powell River community forest helps it stay competitive, healthy and sustainable. Top, TILT’s Russ Parsons uses a drone to inspect a cut block in Powell River Community Forest. Above, a LIDAR image showing real tree heights.

Russ also automatically tracks his entire operation, from fuel consumption, to productivity, to remain competitive and reduce emissions.

But what about jobs? Historically, the forest was the workplace of vast numbers of Powell River loggers.

“Since the days of steam donkeys and horse logging the amount of man power is drastically different. We do hear push back that there aren’t enough jobs,” said Chris. “There’s still a lot of jobs that people don’t see. Logging with mechanized equipment? Yeah, that’s not a lot of jobs. But there’s still a lot in tree planting and growing trees, in surveying, management, and nurseries. There’s a lot you don’t see, but they’re still there.”

In fact, FP Innovations was in the Powell River Community Forest in February, working on an app to measure biomass with a drone.

Russ noted that today’s machines pre-sort logs, so there has been a reduction of jobs at dryland sorts. But he also notes that there are lots of tech jobs serving the forest sector, developing programs and servicing machines.

In other words, technology has vastly changed the work in the forest – but just because there are fewer folks in caulk boots and vizi-vests, and more folks in suits and hoodies, doesn’t mean today’s well-paid, much safer forest jobs are going anywhere soon.