Decision support systems for forest management: A financial analysis for South Carolina's state forests.

Decision support systems (DSS), also known as forest resource information systems, focus on providing forest managers information to make better decisions. DSS in forestry organizations have evolved from the integration of geographic information systems and database management systems with common forestry applications. These types of systems are becoming widely used within forestry organizations as the planning and documentation of activities become ever more critical due to forest certification activities and increased public scrutiny. While methods to define the cost of these types of technologies are relatively straightforward, defining the benefits associated with system implementation is more difficult. A benefit/cost analysis of a DSS for South Carolina's state forests is presented. This analysis derives the majority of the benefits from improvements in business process, not the effects of individual applications or functions. Process alternatives currently available to forest managers and the benefits and cost of these alternatives are identified. While results presented apply specifically to South Carolina's state forests system, the alternatives and methodology have broad implications to medium and large forest landowners.