Scheduling spatial arrangement and harvest simultaneously

A method based on the Metropolis algorithm is developed fur creating desira ble spatial configurations on the landscape while simultaneously dealing wi th other objectives commonly associated with harvest scheduling. Spatial co nfigurations are loosely specified and stochastically attained, which contr asts with other adjacency constraints based on specific block size limits. This method makes it possible to improve habitat and connectivity, and to c reate buffer runes as part of the scheduling process. It also works with a mapped set of polygons/forest stands and does not require a gridded system.