New issues in forest land management from an operations research perspective

Over the last two decades, forest land management practices have changed in response to ecological issues and the need to improve efficiency to remain competitive in emerging global markets. Decision processes have become more open and complex as information and communication technologies change. The OR/MS community is meeting these challenges by developing new modeling strategies, algorithms, and solution procedures that address spatial requirements, multiresource planning, hierarchical systems, multiple objectives, and uncertainty as they pertain to both industrial timberlands and public forests.