Working forests are the lifeblood of Georgia. The state is blessed with an abundance of trees — a mosaic of pine and hardwood forests that cover nearly two thirds of the state. Sitting at the corner of any town square in Georgia, you can see the gears of the $35 billion forestry industry rolling, with log trucks hauling trees of various sizes and lengths to the mills, where the tree fiber is converted to more than 5,000 products that are used in households across the globe.

Over the years — thanks to advances in markets for trees, technology and forest management — the supply chain has been modernized. Landowners, foresters, loggers and manufacturers work around the clock to extract as much value as possible from every part of the supply chain, and they are constantly innovating the process. The key to the state’s working forest success story is its people. They are investing time and knowledge into the forestry supply chain, making our industry better and our state better.

Dwight Sheppard
Bringing a Bird's Eye Perspective to Forest Management

Dwight Sheppard currently serves as a technical services manager for F&W Forestry Services, a global forestry consulting firm headquartered in Albany. From supporting the company’s geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analysis program to training fi eld foresters on how to use drone technology to inform their decisions, Dwight and F&W provide foresters and landowners with data and analysis to inform critical landowner management decisions.

“We like to stay on top of any new technology that can make the foresters’ job more efficient and provide them with information to make better decisions,” Dwight said. “Today, our foresters are given the opportunity to upload data without ever leaving the field, and we can provide them with answers and analysis in real time. It is critical to making us more efficient.”

As drone technology continues to improve, Dwight says that F&W will continue to find ways to make each stage of forest management — from planting to harvesting — more efficient and more valuable for forest landowners.

Taylor Griffith
Reducing Harvesting Inefficiencies through Innovative Technology

 “Have you ever tried to squeeze blood out of a turnip?” Taylor Griffith asked, laughing. “The logging business is all about margins. So, inefficiencies in paperwork and accounting can cause backlogs and issues that cost logging business owners a lot of money. That’s what TRACT prevents.”

Taylor grew up learning about the forest industry, spending time with his dad, Jim Griffith, who is a forester. After college, he pursued a career in software, building products on platforms like Rocket Mortgage and working closely with talent at places like Uber, Yahoo! and other startups.

In 2015, Taylor and Jim started pursuing the development of a software solution for load tracking and harvesting logistics by engaging talented developers using the best standards for web and smartphone technology. In 2017, they launched TRACT, a smartphone application that allows landowners and logging operation managers to track all timber-harvesting operations, the product classes being harvested on each job, load tickets and where each truck is delivered all in the palm of your hand. The result for users is increased chain of custody security and detailed real-time reporting for each active timber operation.

“The application is easy for the people in the field to use, and it promotes efficiency while giving managers peace of mind,” Taylor said. “Managers can also use the data that is gathered to make decisions about personnel or operational challenges daily rather than weekly. That’s huge when your profit comes solely from margins.”

To learn more visit: www.gettract.com.

Kathleen Garcia 
Squeezing Value out of Every Part of the Tree 

​Kathleen Garcia graduated in 2016 with a master’s degree in forest business from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. After gaining some experience in the field as a forester in Florida, she joined Interfor, a North American forest product company with seven sawmills scattered across the state.

The modern sawmill is a prime example of efficiency — using every part of the tree including products that would otherwise be considered waste. Today, as a sawmill residuals coordinator, Kathleen is responsible for ensuring that residual products (i.e., bark, shavings and wood chips) are sold and shipped to the company’s partners in the Southeast. Kathleen plays a key role in ensuring the quality and product specifications are met for each client and that logistic
support is available to ship the product from the mill to the secondary wood-using facility that purchases
the product.

“I love being on the manufacturing side of the industry,” Kathleen said. “The residuals side of the business is a lot of fun because you get to see how every part of the tree is used and the downstream products and value they provide to our clients. You get to connect a lot of dots.”

Interfor is continuing to invest in its sawmills across the Southeast, including expanding capacity at its mills in Thomaston, Eatonton, GA, and Georgetown, SC. Total investment in the three projects will be approximately $240 million.
Matt Hestad is a writer and strategist keenly focused on issues related to natural resources, economic development and poverty.