Operational quality control simply checks whether work is done to standard.  Poor work now could only be apparent much later.  Or, in the case of harvesting operations, when crews have left the site already.  Contract operations are paid based on quantities produced.  The payment system can result in short cuts taken when things get tough – there are good and bad areas  in most jobs.  Just the knowledge that an independent person will be assessing the quality of work encourages high standards.  If checks are made regularly and timeously, any issues get resolved “as you go” and expectations can be reliably established early.  Forest Services pride ourselves in getting our boots on and covering the ground to effectively assess whether standards are being met.

QC on thinning operations also provides some data to assess growth rates and to start making predictions around yields to be expected at harvest time and the impacts of harvest timing.

We are fortunate to be involved with some operations where high standards are maintained, so we get to see what good can look like.