Ed Brown was born in Florida and spent his “Wonderbread Years” in Central Georgia playing in the forests and tree farms around Warner Robins. Ed is pretty sure this was where he began his forestry adventure, or at least his love of prescribed burning. Not that his burning was controlled, but he sure made an impression on Mrs. Ferguson when he was caught igniting her southern pines.

Ed eventually found his way to Oregon State University in 1978, where he met some fantastic foresters who were attending the Forest Engineering Institute. One of those fellows offered Ed a temporary job at the Mount St. Helens Ranger District, just east of Cougar. This was the beginning of his wonderful relationship with “the Outfit” where he spent his summers of 1978 and 1979.

Realizing OSU had NOT offered him any scholarships or grants, Ed went to the University of Maine, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Forest Management and where he met his wife, Faith (also a forester) in 1980.

Of course, 1980 was a banner year for Mount St. Helens. Ed stayed in Maine that summer as no one had a job at the volcano. From 1981 to 1986, Ed was part of the Forest Service efforts salvaging and restoring the areas around the volcano. He worked in timber, silviculture, and was the Brush Disposal Crew Leader.

In 1986, Ed and his wife joined the Peace Corps and spent 27 months in West Africa establishing fruit tree nurseries, grafting trees, battling malaria, losing weight, and honestly, having a really good time.

Since 1989, Ed has worked on the Winema and now the Fremont-Winema National Forest as a planning forester, fuels specialist, district silviculturist, a short stint as a district ranger, and is currently the forest silviculturist.

Presentation Topic

Using the LanFin Tool

Presentation Description

LanFin is a landscape financial model using ArcFuels and the Landscape Treatment Designer (LTD) to display stumpage values across a landscape.

The inputs come from the Forest Vegetation Simulator cut tree lists which are processed to give stumpage value of the cut trees. This output is then projected across a landscape showing stumpage values. Areas of high and low value become visible allowing managers and collaborators to see areas of high and no stumpage value. Prescriptions can then be modified increasing stumpage in areas of higher value to cover the restoration costs in low value areas.

Using LTD, optimal distribution of stumpage can be allocated across the landscape displaying the tradeoffs between various resources.