Publications

Landowners need a simple-to-use, readily available tool to contribute to sustainable management of family forests. We developed an Internet-based decision-support system, 4S Tool (Forest Stand Software Support System), which is designed to encourage informed forest management and to bridge the gap between a new generation of family forest owners (e.g. exurbanites) and natural resources professionals. We describe the technical and educational components of the 4S Tool and present several considerations for application to other geographic regions. The tool requires users to provide information on the species group, typical tree size, and density of trees in their forest. Users also select a forest management technique to apply to their “virtual forest.” The tool then estimates forest dynamics and wildlife habitat availability for up to 40 years into the future. The output provides projected changes in commercial timber, as well as changes in the diversity of berries, ferns, herbs, flowers, birds, and mammals as a consequence of the selected management option. Projected changes are based on primary and secondary data sources and modeled via the Forest Vegetation Simulator. 4S Tool provides a means of enhancing landowner awareness of options associated with management of forest property and provides users with access to additional resources and natural resource professionals to aid in future forest planning efforts.

While there is an increasing demand for active public involvement in forestry decision-making, there are as yet few successful models for achieving this in the new sustainable forest management (SFM) context. This paper describes the special needs of forest managers conducting participatory SFM planning in a sometimes-polarized public context, and outlines criteria for designing decision-support processes to meet these needs. These criteria were used to develop a new approach to public participation in British Columbia, by means of a pilot study using multi-criteria analysis of forest management scenarios while integrating public priorities. Researchers, working with stakeholder groups in the Arrow Forest District, obtained public weightings of criteria and indicators for SFM. Alternative forest management scenarios were presented using realistic 3D landscape visualisations. Modelling-based expert evaluations of the scenarios were weighted according to the priorities of the stakeholder groups, in order to test implications for scenario preferences. There was considerable commonality of results among groups, with general agreement between experts and stakeholder groups on scenario preferences. Based on the results and participant evaluations, techniques such as this appear effective as decision-support tools in conflict-prone areas. Pilot studies like these can play a vital role in developing a more comprehensive, engaging, open and accountable process to support informed and socially acceptable decision-making for sustainable forest management.

Decision support systems have played a prominent role in the implementation of forest management since the early 1980s. However, whereas early systems were typically designed to address relatively simple management questions, more modern systems are increasingly being called upon to address the challenges posed by issues surrounding forest ecosystem management, sustainable forest management, and adaptive management. This paper considers some of the key requirements as they apply to forestry in the United States, and reviews recent decision support system designs in the United States, considering the extent to which they are satisfying the requirements, and opportunities for their continued evolution. The three systems discussed, NED, LMS, and EMDS, are typical of recent approaches to system design insofar as each has taken an evolutionary approach to system implementation in order to develop effective, integrated decision support for forest management in this new, complex problem domain. On considering the current state of system development for the three systems, it is concluded that significant progress has, in fact, been made in the last few years in providing support for evaluation and planning, although it is equally true that substantial opportunities remain for continued development to support plan implementation and forest ecosystem monitoring.

Increases in the environmental awareness of global consumers coupled with pressure from regional stakeholders has forced forest managers to demonstrate the potential implications of forest management activities for a broad range of indicators. This paper describes the construction and application of a hierarchical decision-support system for evaluating multi-objective management options for a 288,000 ha forest in northeastern British Columbia. The decision-support system includes a stand-level model, a forest estate model, a habitat model and a visualization model. A set of criteria and indicators, developed in conjunction with a public advisory committee, were used to identify key economic, ecological and social objectives. Indicators include volume harvested, gross profit, active road density, ecosystem carbon storage, age-class distribution, patch-size distribution, snag density, visual aesthetics and backcountry recreation area. A natural disturbance baseline and two alternative harvest strategies that include natural disturbance are projected and assessed with the decision-support system. The first strategy represents a dispersed harvesting approach in which cut blocks are limited to sizes <60 ha. The second strategy represents an aggregated harvesting approach in which a range of cut block sizes (up to 2000 ha) and shapes is created that more closely follows the distribution of openings generated from natural disturbance events in the region. Spatial and temporal changes in each indicator are presented and evaluated for the harvest strategies, and compared to the natural disturbance baseline where appropriate. The application of the decision-support system for strategic analysis of management options is discussed, including a review of the importance of representing the impacts of natural disturbance and the benefits and risks associated with the use of visualization techniques for presenting results to stake holder groups.

A multiple criteria interactive modelling framework has been developed to support forest resource allocation decisions in the context of multiple use forest management at the tactical level. The modelling framework consists of four components: (i) Intelligence, referring to the forest management problem formulation; (ii) design, which uses a technological forecast model to produce technical coefficients; (iii) choice, which uses multi-criteria analysis based on a combined MINMAX approach and generates iteratively in “trade-off” outputs; and (iv) implementation, related to the final resource allocation scheme adopted after examining trade-offs. The system allows exploration of alternatives, which are not extreme points of the feasible solution set. The weighting procedure is done internally by the system and forest managers are given more flexibility in changing goal targets as more information is gained about the problem. The combined MINMAX approach used in the choice component converges fast to the final solution. Forest managers are in full control of the decision making process and therefore, they can provide their answers and solutions to forest resource allocation problems. The decision support framework is closely linked to the planning and management conditions of the Queen Elizabeth National Forest Park in Central Scotland. However, the system is adaptable to other similar multiple use forest management cases.

Nowadays, the need to incorporate the carbon captured by the forest ecosystems as a complementary objective into the corresponding management optimisation models is accepted. This paper proposes an approach, based upon goal programming that let us undertake this task in a very efficient manner. The models derived from the proposed approach are simple in computational terms and the corresponding solutions can be interpreted in utility terms. All the theoretical aspects of this paper are applied to the Spanish forest “Pinar de Navafrı́a” located in the mountains of “Sierra de Guadarrama” near Madrid. The results reveal the marked difficulty in obtaining from an economic and forestry viewpoint good harvest schedules compatible with high levels of carbon captured.

Methods to monitor the sustainability of forest management on local to regional scales are currently being developed in Europe, based on Pan-European criteria. However, current approaches to indicator development have several shortcomings. First, they fail to integrate the links among indicators. Second, they do not address the factors giving rise to specific indicator values explicitly. Third, they select indicators with an emphasis on data availability or ease of measurement rather than on informational content. To overcome these problems, we propose using a modelling approach to indicator development. What modelling and indicator development have in common is that they both try to capture the essence of real, complex systems. In this paper, we present an initial attempt to develop indicators for the sustainable management of mountain forests, using a modelling approach. Key issues that make the sustainable management of mountain forests a challenge, such as the poor ability of many stands to fulfil current human needs, are identified. A conceptual model depicting the most relevant system elements and links is described. In contrast to the Pan-European criteria and concept areas of sustainable forest management, which are result-oriented, the elements in the conceptual model are process-oriented. The approach could lead to a better understanding of the factors influencing the decision-making at the management unit level and to the identification of a set of meaningful indicators. To evaluate its full potential, however, a simulation model should be developed based on the conceptual model, and be applied to case studies.

This paper discusses the methodological component of a decision support system being developed for the sustainable forest management at the forest management unit level. A geographic information system-based multi-criteria evaluation technique for measuring sustainability of forest management is under development. It integrates and utilises spatial and temporal data on diverse ecological, economic and social variables, while handling data and decision-rule uncertainty. A decision support approach using the concept of aspiration-based utility functions is proposed for formulating forest land use strategies to improve sustainability. It combines the use of linear programming and geographic information systems. As such, the paper attempts to bridge the gap between considerable research work done on developing the framework for measuring sustainability of forest management and a lack of similar efforts in monitoring and using these indicators as a formal part of the planning system.

In this study we developed a decision support system for evaluating the effects of forest management on stand structure and wildlife species. The elements of the decision support system are an ecological simulation model and a data management system. In boreal forests, decaying wood is important from the standpoint of biological diversity. Many organisms, such as saproxylic beetles and polypores, live in decaying wood. The structure of a forest determines which species select it as a habitat, because the habitat requirements vary between species. In this study, the stand structure includes living and dead trees, their diameter distribution by tree species and the stage of decay. Forest management strongly modifies stand structure. We used the simulation model to investigate the stand structure and databases on the habitat requirements of beetle and polypore species to assess the number of species in a stand. We tested our system with four management examples and compared the results to experimental results. Both our study and the experimental results showed that intensive forest management decreases the number of large deciduous trees in boreal forests and therefore reduces the number of beetle and polypore species.