HURRICANE MICHAEL MADE LANDFALL NEAR PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA AS A CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE ON OCTOBER 10, 2018. THE HURRICANE STRUCK A HEAVILY FORESTED AREA THAT INCLUDES GOVERNMENT-MANAGED LANDS (APALACHICOLA NATIONAL FOREST, TATE'S HELL STATE FOREST, AND TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE) AND HUNDREDS OF FORESTED PROPERTIES HELD BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES. IN FLORIDA, NEARLY 2.8 MILLION ACRES OF FORESTLAND WAS AFFECTED WITH FOREST TIMBER LOSSES ESTIMATED AT $1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (FLORIDA FOREST SERVICE). PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS SUGGESTS THAT FOREST DAMAGE COULD BE ASSESSED USING A LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING (LIDAR) INSTRUMENT MOUNTED ON UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAVS). THIS PLATFORM CAN PROVIDE SPATIALLY EXPLICIT AND DETAILED INFORMATION ON WOODY DEBRIS DISTRIBUTION, WHICH ADDRESSES A CRITICAL DECISION FOR LANDOWNERS IN THE REGION ON WHEN TO REMOVE WOOD AND WHAT AREAS TO FOCUS ON. THIS DECISION ALSO REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE ON THE DYNAMICS OF WOOD DECOMPOSITION AND HOW IT VARIES AS A FUNCTION OF ITS THREE-DIMENSIONAL POSITION (ELEVATION ABOVE THE GROUND, DISTANCE TO NEAREST ROAD, ETC). A CONFLUENCE OF BETTER UAV AND IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY NOW MAKES UAV-LIDAR THE IDEAL PLATFORM FOR EXTRACTING THIS NEEDED SPATIAL INFORMATION, WHILE ONSITE MEASUREMENTS WILL ALLOW FOR THE MERGER OF THESE INFORMATION SOURCES INTO ROBUST MODELS OF TREE DISINTEGRATION AND WOOD DECOMPOSITION. AT PRESENT, LAND MANAGERS AND POLICY MAKERS ARE EFFECTIVELY MAKING DECISIONS BASED ON CONVENTIONAL KNOWLEDGE RATHER THAN SCIENTIFIC STUDIES. THIS RESEARCH WILL OVERCOME THIS DEFICIENCY, CREATING A TOOL THAT LAND MANAGERS CAN USE TO PREDICT WOOD DECAY AFTER FUTURE HURRICANES. THESE PREDICTIONS WILL ALLOW FOR BETTER POST-HURRICANE ASSESSMENTS OF FIRE RISK AND THE VIABILITY OF DAMAGED WOOD AS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT.