Integrating Timber Production And

The importance of forest management planning is increasing as more demands are placed on our forestresources. Simply sustaining timber production is no longer good enough. Spatial arrangement of theforest is especially important for environmental quality and wildlife populations. Spatial aspects ofmanagement are difficult to address in forest planning models. Few models are currently available thatcan address these aspects for realistic-size situations. A new dynamic programming approach isproposed as a potential useful planning tool. It can likely help track and control key spatial measuresof forest quality like forest interior space and forest edge, and at the same time, address importanttimber production considerations. Research proposed will refine this approach and prove its usefulnessfor forest-wide planning and policy analysis.