Introduction to Forest Harvest Scheduling

Forest harvest scheduling is an area of work that requires a person to have some understanding of mathematics, geography, forest inventory, and forest policies that all act in concert to guide land management activities. Further, a broad understanding of forestry and natural resource management is helpful, as well as an acknowledgement that when working with other people, particularly those who provided data, one needs to negotiate well. The end results of a forest harvest scheduling effort are products and information that guide forest and land management decisions. Many public agencies (federal, state, county, city), privately owned groups (individuals, investment organizations, churches, and others), publicly owned companies (vertically integrated, real estate investment organizations, and others) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) develop forest harvest schedules to help them understand the possible outcomes of management (present and future) and to communicate a narrative that suggests sustainability may be achieved by following the guidance provided by the harvest schedule. Although there are many aspects of work that a forest planner regularly conducts, this text focuses on the development, through mathematical means, of a feasible and efficient plan of action for forest managers to follow. Oftentimes this effort is referred to as forest harvest scheduling, but in a broader sense, it might alternatively be called forest management activity scheduling. This chapter provides an overview of forestry concepts that are important to harvest scheduling, concepts that arise in subsequent chapters that describe the process of harvest scheduling through different mathematical processes and algorithms.