APPLYING OBJECTIVELY ESTIMATED AND SPATIALLY CONTINUOUS FOREST PARAMETERS IN TACTICAL PLANNING TO OBTAIN DYNAMIC TREATMENT UNITS

Forestry planning is usually approached as the problem of combining an d scheduling stand treatments, Stands are assumed to be homogeneous an d spatially static and are usually delineated and described by subject ive surveying methods. Because, in reality, stands vary internally, on ly subsets of the possible management alternatives will be considered in stand-based planning. As price expectations and other planning para meters change over time, it is likely that optimal locations, extensio ns, and schedules for forest operations change. This paper proposes a method whereby timber volumes and treatment priorities are estimated o n objectively inventoried gee-referenced circular plots. Kriging inter polation and image analysis of scanned aerial photographs are then use d to predict the variables in a spatially near-continuous raster. Trea tment units are dynamically formed, based on price-expectations, and o bjectives defined by the forest owner. Given strategic goals, tactical plans are produced for two wood price situations, and compared with a plan based on conventional stands, The results imply that forest mana gement planning should, perhaps, not be based on static stands if econ omic efficiency and planning flexibility are desirable.