So how do forest managers know that current harvest levels are sustainable over the long term? The answer is quite complicated. It involves professional knowledge based on over 100 years of history, sophisticated computer modelling, specific long-term objectives, and effective silvicultural programs.

But the best professional knowledge and most sophisticated modelling software is useless if you don’t know what you’ve got to start with. Forest managers, therefore, keep comprehensive data on the current state of the forest. This data is stored in computers as digital maps. This “digital forest” must be continuously updated to make sure it agrees with what is really out there on the landscape. That means mapping not only forestry activities, but natural processes like fire, insect outbreaks, wind blowdown, and other types of natural forest change.

Getting the data into the computer, and then keeping it up to date is a fairly technical task that requires highly specialized software and specially trained people. It uses a technological toolbox known as a “Geographic Information System”, or GIS. Timiskaming Forest Alliance Inc. (TFAI) uses the services of a business that specializes in this type of work to be confident that this critical forestry data is kept in good order.

Virtual Earth Technologies is a professional mapping business based in Englehart. Virtual Earth Technologies does work not only for the forest industry, but also for mining exploration, and for local municipal governments. It also makes large-scale maps for sale to outdoor enthusiasts (for example, the Northeastern Ontario Sport Fishing Atlas). The TFAI has a long-term contract with Virtual Earth Technologies to keep its digital forest up to date and as error free as possible.

However there is more to the service that Virtual Earth Technologies provides than just maintaining the integrity of the data. All of this good data is not very useful if it lives inside a computer and can only be used by people highly trained in GIS. The TFAI makes daily use of customized software tools developed by Virtual Earth Technologies to make maps, perform analyses, submit reports to the government, and find answers to questions that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to answer without a GIS system.

For example, what is the overall pattern of forest change over time, from both natural and man-made causes? Is the pattern of change itself changing? How much influence do forest managers have on this overall pattern of change? How much time would it take to alter the overall forest pattern in some desired way? These are questions that Virtual Earth Technologies, by using its GIS toolbox and digital forest data, can help to answer.

Virtual Earth Technologies ensures the data that TFAI uses is accurate, up to date, and accessible to those employees who need it. This helps forest managers ensure that current harvest levels are sustainable.