SHREVEPORT, LA. AND CENTER, TX (March 3, 2015) – Two of the region’s leading forestry management consulting businesses, Bird Forestry and The Crawford Forestry Group, have merged to create Bird & Crawford Forestry, a division of Advanced Ecology, Ltd. Mike Bird and Sam D. Crawford will serve as principals of this new consulting venture.
The new company will provide a full range of quality professional forest management services supported by the latest GIS/GPS technology and database management systems. Bird & Crawford Forestry is among the leading independent forestry consulting businesses in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi, serving private and commercial landowners, timberland investment firms, timber industry clients and public lands.
“Mike and I have been friends, as well as competitors, for more than 40 years and have worked together on numerous joint programs,” said Sam Crawford. “We felt this was the perfect opportunity to create a forestry management consulting venture with expanded professional expertise and a larger geographical footprint to better serve our customers – regardless of the size of their land and timber holdings.”
Mike Bird explained, “The combination makes good sense. Sam and I share a common mission of safeguarding the timber and land resources our clients entrust to us. Together, we’ll have access to a larger portfolio of resources that broaden and assure continued professional management of our clients’ assets.”
The venture brings together a strong and seasoned leadership team of foresters, biologists and land management professionals. As a division of Advanced Ecology, Ltd., Bird & Crawford Forestry will also be able to draw upon natural resource management assets including environmental consulting, mitigation banking and wildlife management. Bird continues to serve as the CEO of Advanced Ecology.
Bird Forestry, based in Center, Texas, was founded in 1979 to provide East Texas landowners a professional management option for their timberlands. Advanced Ecology was formed in 1994. In 2005, Bird Forestry merged with Advanced Ecology, Ltd. and began operating as the Forestry Division of Advanced Ecology, which has operations in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
The Crawford Forestry Group, located in Shreveport, Louisiana, is one of the oldest consulting forestry firms in Louisiana with a legacy of forest management that dates back to 1946. The company was acquired by Crawford in 1984 and became a well-respected, regional firm managing timberland in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Crawford’s clientele ranges from small non-industrial forest landowners to some of the country’s largest timberland investment organizations.
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