The FBS Podcast

FBS 53 New Forest Carbon Apps

This podcast episode explores how two free independent web applications, FCO (https://fco.forestenterprise.org/) and CARBINE (https://carbine.forestenterprise.org/), are lowering the steep technical learning curve for foresters, landowners, and forest businesses seeking to answer practical forest carbon questions. The discussion details how FCO provides a clean, user-friendly doorway into broad-area carbon estimates from the USDA Forest Service's FIA and EVALIDator databases, preserving official uncertainty data without inventing substitute numbers. The conversation then shifts to CARBINE, which tackles the notoriously difficult and finicky Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) by translating its complex input requirements into an accessible, browser-based workflow for stand-level carbon scenario exploration. Ultimately, the episode highlights how these complementary tools—FCO for regional context and CARBINE for stand-level management projections—work together to make powerful public data and modeling systems accessible for real-world decision-making and communication.

FBS 52 Vermont Disaster Grants for Working Lands Businesses

In this episode, we break down the latest details onVermont's $31.7 million Agriculture and Timber Disaster Assistance Block Grant, designed to help working-lands businesses recover from the severe 2023 and 2024storms and flooding. With the application portal expected to open later in 2026, we discuss exactly who may be eligible—from timber owners to logging contractors—and how you can start gathering your records and documentation right now to prepare your application. For additional guidance, we point listeners to disaster.vtfbs.com for grant help.

FBS 51 Have Fun Learning with the SumBuck App

In this episode, we dive into SumBuck, a free and robust virtual training app that provides hands-on practice for hardwood log bucking and grading. Developed by Steve Bick of the Forest Business School, this innovative tool allows forestry professionals and students to practice cutting tree-length stems without the risk of wasting real wood or production time. We discuss how the app acts as a risk-free simulator where users can compare their cuts against an optimizer to see how factors like length, diameter, and changing market prices impact the overall value of a log. Whether you are a small business owner looking to yield higher value from your hardwood or an educator running a workshop, this episode will show you how to build your field judgment faster—just be warned, virtual bucking can be highly addictive. “You’d be a woreout sumbuck. I’ll tell you that. Think how good you’d sleep.” - Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

FBS 50 Build and Host a Free Website for your Business

In this episode of the FBS podcast, we walk listenersthrough a revolutionary, step-by-step method to build a clean, professional one-page website with absolutely no coding required, no web developer, and zero monthly hosting fees. Tune in to discover how to effortlessly use Claude AI asyour digital architect to shape your raw business details into a functioning site, and learn how to securely host your files for free using GitHub Pages. Bythe end of this episode, you will understand the exact blueprint for claiming your digital plot and maintaining complete ownership over your business'swebsite.  There is even a free guide to how to build your and upload your website at www.build.vtfbs.com [http://www.build.vtfbs.com].    TheForest Business School has a one-session online course on how to build yourwebsite – reach out if you want to host one of these classes or offer it through your organization.

FBS 49 Systems and Technology Needs of Small Businesses

In this episode, we explore the critical transition fromfragmented, paper-based operations to integrated digital systems for forest-based small businesses like sawmills, logging crews, and firewood producers. We discuss how reliance on manual data entry and intuitive decision-making creates an "invisible system failure," leading to acumulative value leakage of up to 20-35% across procurement, conversion, and distribution. By examining the "technician trap" that keeps owners bogged down in daily tasks, the episode highlights why heavy, expensiveenterprise software fails these smaller operations and why lightweight, mobile-first technologies—such as ruggedized tablets, scaling apps, and cloud-based inventory tools—are essential. Ultimately, listeners will learn howadopting these incremental, fit-for-purpose digital tools provides the real-time operational visibility needed to maximize yield, improve throughput, and transform a functioning business into a highly optimized asset