{"id":100,"date":"2019-07-03T17:37:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T17:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8009\/stories\/?p=100"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:46:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:46:57","slug":"how-foresters-use-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forestrycareers.com\/stories\/how-foresters-use-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Foresters: Meet Forester Drone Pilots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drones have become an important part of Rayonier’s forestry operations. Our drone pilots share how they use this tool to gain a new perspective in the field. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

For years, Resource Land Manager Neris Biciunas puzzled over how to get rid of an invasive plant that was harming trees on Rayonier\u2019s Washington land. Called Scotch Broom, it is difficult to spot and nearly invisible from the air, except for a small window of time each year when it blooms with bright yellow flowers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Neris, who\u2019s based in Forks, Washington, became one of Rayonier\u2019s drone pilots. He flew his drone as soon as the Scotch Broom plants bloomed, collecting aerial photos so he could develop a precise map of the plant locations across miles of forestland. Once the plants were located, his team was able to develop a treatment plan to get rid of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Neris’s drone takes flight in Forks, Wasington.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are countless success stories like this that show how drone flights are impacting Rayonier for the better. They\u2019re used to take a quick initial look at a stand of trees, to monitor a contractor\u2019s work, to more safely assess the devastation during and after a forest fire, and even to create 3-D images. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a preliminary \u201cpilot\u201d team tested how the company could use drones in 2017, Rayonier saw the potential and launched the program nationwide, encouraging at least one forester in every U.S. location to get their FAA drone pilot\u2019s license. There are currently 30 pilots on our U.S. team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New Zealand, our first employee pilots were trained in early 2018 after a couple years of working with contractors to test the impact of drones. Now we have a drone in each of the five regions in which we operate, with 15 trained pilots. The New Zealand team typically refers to their drones as UAVs, which stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Castle
This aerial image of a young forest in Castledowns, New Zealand, was taken during a CPR operation, which stands for Crop Performance Review.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“We have some clever, motivated people who are determined to leverage this technology\u2014and technology in general\u2014to do existing work better and, even more exciting, find new ways to do more than we could previously,” says Forest Information Manager Joanna Drabsch, who’s based out of Auckland, New Zealand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A New Perspective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA drone allows us to see something we wouldn\u2019t have been able to see any other way. It\u2019s a tool that gives us a whole new perspective,\u201d says Technical Analyst Sara Bellchamber, a self-described gamer who organized the U.S. program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based in Wildlight, Florida, Sara says one way she uses her drone is to help Rayonier\u2019s land resources team measure the depth of fill dirt pits using a program called Drone Deploy. The software uses images taken in a grid pattern and stitches them together into a 3-D image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sara prepares her drone to capture a grid of images at a fill dirt site, which will assist in measuring the depth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sara says she has seen drones save costs, increase safety and save time throughout Rayonier\u2019s ownership. In the South, for example, they minimize the gap in time between the harvest of a forest and the preparation of that forest for replanting during Florida\u2019s hot summers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter a harvest, you\u2019d normally have to fly a plane to estimate what it will take to prep the site [for replanting],\u201d she explains. \u201cIn high summer, there\u2019s a haze in the sky and planes can\u2019t take clear photos through it. But drones can fly below the haze, getting us the imagery we need much sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While planes are still the preferred option for imagery collection, work doesn\u2019t have to grind to a halt if a plane is not an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan, left, and Blake, right, assess a stand of trees near Jesup, Georgia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

W<\/strong>orking with Drones in the Forest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Blake McMichael and Dan Hildebrand, both Resource Land Managers based in Jesup, Georgia, use their drones when they\u2019re in the field assessing forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the best uses I\u2019ve found is for site-specific management,\u201d says Blake. \u201cIt helps me delineate where treatments are needed and where they\u2019re not. It\u2019s not replacing boots on the ground, it\u2019s giving us a birds-eye view we\u2019ve never had before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliminating Hours of Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For Dan, who\u2019s been a Rayonier forester for more than 30 years, his drone eliminates hours of work tromping through the forest to locate pre-commercial thinning candidates, trees with flaws such as forking that should be removed to make room for the optimal trees to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he first became a forester, \u201cit used to be all boots on the ground,\u201d Dan says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always been open to new possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In hazardous conditions such as difficult terrain, drones can make a task much safer. Neris, the forester in Forks, used his drone to save himself from a long, cold walk to determine whether snowy roads would be drivable or not after a heavy snowstorm (they weren\u2019t). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took me 10 minutes to do with a drone what would have taken me 2 hours to do on foot,\u201d Neris says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Snowy roads in the Pacific Northwest can be assessed with a drone, preventing the need to send a forester walking in cold, dangerous conditions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That sentiment is echoed by many drone pilots across many tasks: work can be done quickly, accurately and more safely by incorporating a drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My favorite way to use the drone is by using the Maps Made Easy software to quickly map a large area in high definition, then be able to convert that to a file which can directly be transferred to our GIS system,” says Graduate Forester Patrick Dravitzki, who’s based in Whangarei, New Zealand. “This is great for doing harvest reconciliation mark ups as we get an accurate measurement of the area which has been harvested, then compare that with the volume recovered to get a volume recovered per-hectare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This also solved a problem, as previously we had to walk the perimeter with a GPS or hand draw on a map. This method is a lot safer, faster and accurate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Drones to Prepare for the Future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The drone pilots share files and tips with each other and come together for a regular cross-country phone call, hearing new ways fellow foresters have discovered to use their drones in the field and helping each other expand their skills. The team is continuously trying to prepare for what\u2019s next: several of the pilots are even part of a Rayonier \u201csuper users group\u201d tasked with staying on top of any future technological advances that could benefit the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neris gives Rayonier leadership credit for supporting the program from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were receptive, asked hard questions, listened thoughtfully, and let us check it out,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is a program that not only benefits Rayonier now (one forester said the information gleaned in a single flight saved more money than the cost of his drone), but it\u2019s also positioning Rayonier for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a team of drone pilots, the infrastructure for the program, the experience and understanding how to use the data we\u2019re collecting puts us in a very strong position for when the next development rolls along,\u201d Neris says. \u201cWe\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blake sees what his drone sees as he flies above a nearby forest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drones have become an important part of Rayonier’s forestry operations. Our drone pilots share how they use this tool to gain a new perspective in the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ryn_post_video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ozyimSKc6dU&feature=emb_logo"},"categories":[5],"tags":[10,9,27],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nHow Rayonier Foresters Use Drones to Manage Land<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how Rayonier\u2019s Foresters are using drones to better manage land. 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