The Rural Voice, 1999-10, Page 49AgriTech
Managing woodlots for the future
By Janice Becker
Trees. One of this country's most
renewable resources and sometimes
most taken -for -granted assets.
With trees serving our building,
heating and breathing needs, manage
ment of this resource is a crucial
issue which should be of interest both
to those who grow the trees and those
who use them.
The key in the forestry web search
is to limit your scope. Include Canada
or Ontario in your search so all the
American sites don't overwhelm.
After spending some time looking
through irrelevant locations, I came
across one which seemed a great
place to start.
At www.canadian-forests.com,
Canadian Forests is billed as the
"gateway to forests and forestry in
Canada".
Though BC -based, there was good
information for the entire country
and, unlike other sites visited, it was
not constructed just for those in the
business. While there were industry
links, connections to services and
supplies, associations and consul-
tants, news and employment opportu-
nities, there was also an education
and research component.
The education section was set up
for teachers, parents and children,
allowing the youngsters to work
through forestry -related material
while giving parents and teachers
more background information.
Welcome to the Wonderful World
of Trees was created by Domtar in
Quebec and can be linked to through
Canadian Forests or by going straight
to www.domtar.com/arbre/english/in
dex.html. It is suggested that teachers
could use this program in conjunction
with resource management studies.
For the foresters amongst our read-
ers, Canadian Forests links you to a
conference calendar. agriculture net-
work, information centre and connec-
tions to organizations around the
world.
Government programs and regula-
tions, both federal and provincial, can
be researched through the links.
If you are a more visual person,
there are photo inventories and a
video of logging in Algonquin Park
(if you have Quick Time 4, which
can be downloaded). There is also
material on films produced by the
National Film Board of Canada on
the subject of forestry and logging.
Woodlands -The System out of
Manitoba is a software program
which allows woodlot and forest
managers to direct information flow.
It is considered a "framework for sus-
tainable and raw material supply
management."
Information on ordering the soft-
ware can be found at www.wood-
landsthesystem.com.
Because many of the internet sites
associated with forestry and tree
management were set up by major
logging companies and suppliers, the
material can be too large-scale.
However, a consulting firm in Ohio
has developed a tree management
system geared to urban municipalities
and smaller enterprises.
Tree Manager from ACRT Inc,
http://acrtinc.com, provides software
for urban communities, utility corri-
dors, golf courses, university campus-
es, garden -type commercial facilities
and natural resource undertakings.
The database stores work records,
budgets, expense sheets, workload
accomplishments and service
requests.
The basic model is for the manage-
ment of under 6,000 trees but can be
adjusted upwards. There arealso
modules for turf, planting bed, shrub.
hardscape and playground manage-
ment.
Other interesting sites from Ontario
sources include Arbour Farms,
www.arbourfarms.com, one of
Ontario's largest Christmas tree pro-
ducers, The Christmas Tree Growers
Association at www.christmastrees.
on.ca, Landowners Resource Centre,
www3.sympatico.ca/Irc/who.html
and Natural Resources Canada at
www.mnr.gov.on.ca /MNR/. This last
site includes listings of forest special-
ists in your area who are great
resource people for woodlot manage-
ment.
Please contact me at
becker@wcl.on.ca with feedback or
suggestions for future topics.0
Janice Becker is a computer enthusi-
ast and journalist living near Walton.
ON.
"Our experience
assures lower cost
water wells"
99 YEARS' EXPERIENCE
Member of Canadian
and Ontario
Water Well Associations
• Farm
• Industrial
• Suburban
• Municipal
Licensed
by the Ministry
of the Environment
DAVIDSON
WELL DRILLING LTD.
WINGHAM
Serving Ontario Since 1900
519-357-1960 WINGHAM
519-664-1424 WATERLOO
KELLY PORTABLE
SEED CLEANING
A• vailable to Clean
Fall Wheat
Convenient and
Economical
Serving Mid -Western
Ontario
Kincardine, Ontario
N2Z 2X4
396-4559
1-888-844-1333
OCTOBER 1999 45