WASHINGTON, DC—A new generation of timber cruising field data collection software, “FScruiser V3,” was released in April, and is available through the Google Play Store. The software taps into new technologies made available in the last decade while preparing for new technologies on the horizon. The new application helps streamline and enhance the process for collecting estimates of tree sizes, volume, quality, and other characteristics of trees to appraise and prepare for timber sale. It’s part of the Forest Service National Cruise System, which is a set of software tools developed for timber cruisers to design a timber cruise, collect timber cruise data and produce volume estimates for timber sale contracts.

The new android version of FScruiser will be used in the daily operations of hundreds of USDA Forest Service and contract field crews. Crews will use industrial grade tablets to run the new application.

Over the next year, FScruiser V3 will replace FScruiser V2, which has run on the obsolescent Windows Mobile O.S. and has been used successfully over the past decade. A number of fixes are included in the V3 software, addressing concerns with:

• Importing recon measurement data in production cruises
• Tree counts from other cruises with similar populations sometimes being included
• Height and diameter tree errors showing on plot trees
• Displayed Key Performance Indicators total updating on tally buttons
• Cruises reimporting after being deleted

FScruiser is part of the timber management toolkit utilized by USDA Forest Service partners, including such organizations as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Department of Defense and many state agencies.

Forest Service users will need to check with their regional measurement specialists before utilizing the new software. Forest Service users must now install these desktop applications using the USDA-OCIO Software Center. User guides, cruise templates and mobile version of FScruiser may be downloaded below. Standard setup .exes and .zip files are also available below.

View the National Cruise System Introduction presentation: PDF, 198 KB, and/or PowerPoint, 1.5 MB.

• Cruise Manager: setup new cruises, manage cruise data and perform error checking
• FSCruiser: field data collection
• CruiseProcessing: calculates tree volume, biomass weight and statistics for completed cruises
• Cruise Design: an interactive approach to efficient cruise design
• CheckCruise: allows cruiser measurements to be compared to check cruiser measurements

Please contact your regional measurement specialist if you are interested in receiving training on National Cruise System V3.