Lepalla Road - Timber Harvesting Visualization
Brule River State Forest
Have you ever wanted to have a better understanding of what an area will look like after a timber harvest? Wisconsin DNR, in cooperation with Xtra-Spatial Productions, LLC took advantage of significant advances in 3D visualization software. The 3D software creates images, using actual forest stand data, to model a forest stand from various view points before and after a timber harvest. The result of the visualization provides the public and other partners we work with the opportunity to “see” what the management activity will look like after it is completed. In addition, the visualization software can “grow” the forest stand to see what it would look like in 5 , 10 or even 100 years.
In the case of the Brule River State Forest, the purpose of the visualization project was to determine if there were significant visual impacts of the proposed timber sale when viewed from the Brule River. The visualization shows the harvesting of one stand of the proposed timber sale from an aerial view and from two nearby roads. In addition, you can actually “canoe” virtually, down the river and view the forest stand from two river viewpoints. Maintaining the scenic corridor of the river is one of the objectives in the Brule River State Forest Master Plan.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
Would you like to view real aerial photos?
Keep in mind that these photos show the entire timber sale after it was harvested, whereas the visualization images above only depict one stand from the timber sale.
Thumbnails link to larger images.
)
)
)
)
)
How was this done? The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Forestry commissioned Xtra-Spatial Productions, LLC (XSP) of Saratoga Springs, NY to produce a set of “before and after” still renderings to illustrate the degree of visual impact of an upland timber sale along the Brule River. Wisconsin DNR provided XSP with ESRI Shapefiles comprising forestry stand data—including DNR forest types and tree species, maximum height, and overstory density—along with a set of predefined ecosystems, including over 200 custom foliage images representing over 30 species of hardwoods, softwoods and shrubs that represent Wisconsin forests. XSP integrated these data with topography derived from the USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) to create a Visual Nature Studio (VNS) project. Pre- and post-management photo realistic overviews from multiple view points of the proposed timber sale area were produced to show the effect of the forestry treatment. In addition, pre- and post-management renderings were produced from two locations along the popular canoeing river where protecting the scenic corridor is the primary goal. In addition, XSP produced photo realistic renderings from roads adjacent to the stand that was proposed to be harvested. The view for this location shows people "what the stand will look like" after the practice is completed.
RSS