3 hours. 2 hours lecture and 2 hours lab per week.
Forest Planning
Analytical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Course Description
Analysis methods applicable to forest management planning and decision making in forestry. Particular emphasis on optimization procedures and financial analysis.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: Extra work on special projects or library research within the students field of specialization.
Athena Title
Forest Planning
Prerequisite
Second year student standing
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, students should be able to assess and interpret alternative management plans from economic and ecological perspectives before selecting a preferred alternative.
By the end of the semester, students should be able to evaluate the reasonableness of information produced from a harvest scheduling effort.
By the end of the semester, students should be able to estimate the trade-offs amongst forest management plan alternatives and use sound judgement to support the selection of a forest plan alternative.
By the end of the semester, students should be able to present thoughts through a common business communication tool (memo) in a manner that is understandable by forest practitioners, and present information in a numeric and graphical manner that is approachable by forest managers and decision makers.
By the end of the semester, students should be able to identify and describe the appropriate methodology to analyze the myriads of actions that potentially could form a forest plan.
Topical Outline
1. Overview of the course
2. Introduction to forest management
3. Concepts and criteria for forest management
4. Management prescriptions
5. Land classification systems
6. Growth and yield of forests and forest structure
7. Models for estimating outcomes
8. Problem identification
9. Forest planning solution techniques
10. Linear programming
11. The simplex method
12. Forest regulation
13. Binary search
14. Harvest scheduling/sustainability of resources
15. Tactical Planning
16. New technology
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
