Modeling Alternative Zoning Strategies in Forest Management

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