January 2008 Archives

During this week's compass practice lab we ran into some unusual issues. A few people were using gloves with magnets one of the fingers. This magnet helps hunters free their trigger fingers. It's a great idea, but not good when navigating with a compass.

Another student noticed that the magnetic needle on his compass was reversed; that is the white end of the needle was pointing north, instead of the red end. This is clearly a product defect and the offending compass has been returned to the manufacturer. It just shows that it is always important to check out any tools before taking them into the forest.

This is my first entry under the new version 4 of Movable Type. I like the layout of the tools. I am looking forward to getting the ability to add comments, too.

Today I am importing my old blog entries into the new system (Movable Type 4). I hope nothing is lost in the process. What I have heard so far is that I may have to re-edit photos and tags. But that's not a big problem.

This is a Google map showing some points on campus. It is inserted here to show how the new map tools are designed to create connected media. A term I have heard for this type of mapping tool is neogeography. But, is it GIS?



View Larger Map

The seemingly never-ending presidential campaign has changed direction several times. Right now "Change" seems to be the major theme and catch-word. Change, however refers to more than politics. We can use the idea of change to group together issues in forest management. After all, the forest is constantly changing. As foresters we can hope to guide the change, but not slow it down.

Here are a few of the factors:

• Biological
• Forest succession; that is forests are dynamic.
• Incorrect idea of "preserving forests"
• Question of diversity in all its forms
• Global warming, ecological cycles. Carbon sequestration as an opportunity for forest management.
• Wildlife Influences on the forest and the forest influencing wildlife. Deer, endangered species
• Human Factors
• Changes in Environmental attitudes. What will the public accept? Laws and regulations
• Recreational use. Increased use. More conflicts over types of uses.
• Parcelization of forest tracts leading to loss of flexibility and few chances for timber management.
• Wildfire. Managing. Dangers along the urban/wildland interface.
• Forest product market changes: types of lumber, sources, certified, furniture production, etc.

Of course there are many other factors. These are just a few of the Big Changes in Forestry that we need to consider.

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This blog is a way for me to elaborate on things we discussed in class. I will also highlight articles on forest management that I find. Check here often or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Here is a presentation I have put together for the Faculty Development Day at Mont Alto. I prepared it on Google Documents, which lets you put the presentation as an insert:

Here is a direct link to the presentation.