Modeling alternative zoning strategies in forest management

To satisfy public demands for environmental values, forest companies are facing the prospect of a reduction in wood supply and increases in costs. Some Canadian provincial governments have proposed intensifying silviculture in special zones dedicated to timber production as the means of pushing out the forest possibility frontiers. In this paper, we compare the traditional two-zone land allocation framework which includes ecological reserves and integrated forest management zones with the triad – a three-zone scheme which adds a zone dedicated to intensive timber production. We compare the solutions of the mixed-integer linear programs formulated under both land-allocation frameworks. We explore through sensitivity analysis the conditions under which the triad regime can offset the impact on timber production from increased environmental demands. We show that under the realistic conditions characteristic to Coastal British Columbia, higher environmental demands may be satisfied under the triad regime without increasing the financial burdens on the industry or reducing its wood supply. This occurs, however, only if regulatory constraints in timber production zone are flexible.