| < Back to Aerial Photography Affordable,
custom-flown, high quality aerial photography? You have got to be kidding! There is just
no way a non-industrial private landowner can acquire any photographic imagery suitable
for making management decisions for forest lands.
“All the imagery that I have found is so out of date that it has no practical use in
the management of my forest. If I did contact a firm specializing in aerial photography
services, I know that its products would be too expensive.” Have you ever heard such
comments or even said them yourself? These are very common statements and as a forestry
consultant I have heard them many times. The truth is, affordable high-quality aerial
photography is available. Kingwood Forestry Service is offering MFA members a discount on
aerial photography. This MFA member benefit will allow MFA members to more economically
acquire the imagery to efficiently and profitably manage their forest lands.
Aerial photography can help you to be a more effective forest manager and to help save you
money. How can spending money on aerial photography help you save?
Imagine for a minute that you had what you believed to be 100 acres of forest land from
which you had recently had all merchantable timber removed. You plan to have the entire
area replanted with pine seedlings during the upcoming winter months. In order to prepare
for planting the seedlings you have contracted with a firm specializing in herbicide
applications. A herbicide is to be applied to the site to control unwanted vegetation and
to aid in planter access. The cost of the two practices that you have planned for the area
that you believe to be 100 acres is $155.00 per acre. (Approximately $75.00 per acre for
tree planting and $80.00 per acre for the herbicide application). The total cost of the
planned reforestation activity is $15,550.00.
The consulting forester with whom you work has advised you that the boundary of the
harvested area is very irregular. Also, there is a streamside management zone (SMZ)
through the tract, and old oil well site, and a permanent access road. Due to the
irregular nature of the boundary and the other areas which will not be treated with
herbicide or planted, the forester suggests that an aerial photograph will be used to
calculate the number of acres actually harvested and for which the herbicide applicator
and the tree planters will be paid. The forester advises that it is not unusual for area
estimates to be off by as much as 10 percent.
The consulting forester whom you count on for professional guidance directs you to an
aerial photography firm with whom he has experience and you contract with the firm to have
the imagery collected. You also ask the firm collecting the imagery to calculate the acres
in the harvest area and to advise you of the findings. The aerial photography firm’s
fee, based on the MFA discount, is $80.00 to take the photograph. To your surprise, you
discover that the actual area covered by the timber harvest is only 90 acres, or 10 acres
less than what was estimated. The difference is net acres was due to the irregular
boundary against the SMZ and the permanent road right-of-way.
Did you save money by spending money on the aerial photography? In this scenario you would
have saved $1,500.00 by spending $80.00. Not only did you save money; the photograph can
be used by the herbicide application firm to assure that they know where the boundaries of
your property are and by the tree planting contractor to direct the planters. You can use
the photograph for years to come to make decisions regarding the management of your
property and as a historical record of the practices that were completed on the property
in preparation of the next forest crop.
In an effort to be responsive to the needs of the membership of the MFA, the Mississippi
Forestry Association has agreed with Kingwood Forestry Services, Inc. to enter into a
program through which Kingwood will provide discounted aerial photography services to MFA
members at an affordable price. Kingwood has been providing aerial photography services to
landowners across the South for many years and is uniquely qualified to provide the aerial
photography services progressive landowners need to manage their forest lands.
The basic aerial photography program, for which all MFA members are eligible, is as
follows. For a fee of $80.00 Kingwood will photograph any contiguous block of land which
is 640 acres or less in size. For each additional block of land 640 acres or less in size
the fee will be an additional $80.00. Each individual separate block of land will be
charged as a separate parcel and the cost will be $80.00.
For example: If a landowner owned 743 acres in one contiguous block of land the fee to
photograph the property would be $160.00. (640 acres at $80.00 plus 103 acres at $80.00 is
$160.00.) Or, if a landowner has 743 acres in two separate tracts which were not
connected, one tract of 200 acres and the other of 543 acres the fee to have the sites
photographed would be $160.00. (200 or $80.00 and 543 acres at $80.00 is $160.0.) Another
example would be for a landowner that had 40 acres for which he wished to acquire an
aerial photograph. The fee for this landowner would be $80.00.
All photography is to be natural color. Prints will be prepared in an 8" x 8"
format with a one inch margin across the north side of each print for labeling purposes.
Each photograph will be labeled with client’s name, date of photography, north,
partial tract description, county, state, and photograph scale. Photograph scale will be
1" = 1,320' or 4" = 1 mile. If a client requests specifications different from
the above, additional fees will apply. Payment for services will be required in advance
and each landowner will contract directly with Kingwood Forestry Services.
There are many uses for aerial photography that apply to natural resource management. Some
examples are insect and disease detection, wildlife management and hunting, damage
appraisal (wildfires, trespass, and oil well spills for example), timber management, real
estate buy-sell decisions, and aesthetics. Or, you may like to have an aerial photograph
of your forest property hanging on your wall to admire. However, you use aerial
photography, it is an affordable and valuable tool for the management of forest land.
If you would like to find out more about aerial photography, contact Glen E. Dabney, R.F.,
A.C.F. or Fred Collier at Kingwood Forestry Services, Inc. in Monticello, Arkansas. The
telephone numbers are 1-870-367-8567 (office), 1-870-367-8424 (fax).
If you or your organization are interested
in discussing the many uses for aerial photography and ways to increase your productivity,
fill out this online form or contact Glen Dabney here.
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