TELSA: A Strategic Planning Tool for Forest Ecosystem Management

Author: Sarah J. Beukema
Organization: ESSA Technologies Ltd.

1765 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver, V6J 5C6
BC, Canada

sbeukema@essa.com

Ecosystem management requires tools that assess the trade-offs among strategic planning decisions. The Tool for Exploratory Landscape Scenario Analyses (TELSA) is a spatially explicit model of ecosystem dynamics. It simulates the impacts of succession, natural disturbances, and forest management activities on stand and landscape characteristics at scales of 10,000 to 200,000 hectares. The model includes data preparation and analysis tools based on ArcView GIS and ArcView Spatial Analyst. TELSA is currently used in British Columbia, Alberta, and several states in the western United States.