On May 26th, I gave a SMART training to 35 county foresters at the Withlacoochee Training Center in Florida’s Withlacoochee State Forest. The half day training included instruction on how to build a Forest Stewardship Plan in SMART, details on the available shapefile conversion tools, as well as a demo of Prism — the soon-to-be-released, publicly-facing website that will let users explore the impact that the Forest Stewardship Program and Landscape Scale Restoration projects are having nationwide. Many thanks go to Florida Conservation Program Manager Tony Grossman and his staff for hosting me.
County Foresters at the Withlacoochee Training Center
Just steps away from my hotel, a defunct shuffleboard court was set in a forest clearing. Spanish Moss clung to the live oaks and drifted in the breeze. Ahhh, Florida in the spring.
Old outdoor shuffleboard court near Brooksville, FL
I stopped in at the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area on my way back to the Tampa airport. Driving through the patchwork of federal, state, local, and private lands along the gulf coast of Florida, I was reminded of how important it is for all of us to work together at stewarding our natural resources. I am grateful everyday that I get to help states tell the story of how their programs are impacting the landscape, some of which I was lucky enough to see while in Florida.
Estuary in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area
I always enjoy meeting the folks who use ForMAP and SMART, and I never fail to learn something that comes from hearing a new perspective. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the Florida Forest Service and help them see how the suite of ForMAP modules might integrate into their current workflow. If your state has an interest in receiving onsite training, please do drop us a line here at the Help Desk.
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