INFORMS-R8 (Integrated Forest Resource Management System-Region 8) is an automated computer system designed to assist Forest Service resource managers in integrated resource planning and analysis at the landscape and project levels. INFORMS-R8 is a decision support tool for integrating and enhancing existing forest pest management and land management planning tools and technology into a uniform environment.
The prototype decision support tool was developed on a SUN SPARCstation using OPENLOOK by the STARR lab at Texas A & M University through a Technology Development Program administered by Forest Health, a division of State and Private Forestry in the Southern Region. INFORMS-R8 integrates the vast capabilities of geographic information system (ArcInfo 6.1), a database management system (ORACLE 6.0), expert systems/rulebase engines (CLIPS) within a graphic user interface hone to the context of forest resource analysis and forest management planning objectives.
While originally designed and developed to assist forest managers develop and analyze alternatives at the project level, the Jessieville Ranger District of the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas (a beta test site) is presently using INFORMS-R8 to analyze ecosystem conditions at the landscape or watershed level (5,000 to 15,000 acres). Once inside the INFORMS-R8, the operator creates a new project by assigning a project identifier and entering it into a "new project window". The operator then selects the watershed identifier for the watershed to be analyzed and displays the watershed polygon on the screen. The next step is to define the project area graphically by selecting the appropriate description from the menu (polygon, circle, rectangle or, in this case, user defined). The operator then selects the GIS layers or coverages necessary to run the various rulebases or models from a menu and instructs the program to "clip" those layers from the corporate database to the project area selected.
Once the "clipping" process is completed, the operator may instruct INFORMS-R8 to run any or all the expert designed rulebases within the shell. Once the rulebases have been selected and run, the results may be displayed spatially on the screen. The color displays are printed on a color printer and included in the biological, physical, and social description of the ecosystem as the present or potential conditions. These spatial displays are very valuable to land managers in understanding the conditions present in the ecosystem and selecting the appropriate management actions to move the ecosystem from present conditions to the desired future conditions.
Spatial analysis is accomplished using AMLs within ARC, TIN, and INFO and generated by the INFORMS-R8 shell. Printouts of the screen are also accomplished using the AML launcher within the shell.
A large number of rulebases have been developed to analyze biological, physical and social conditions. They include: early seral habitat conditions, cerulean warbler habitat, scarlet tanager foraging areas, sensitivity to erosion, watershed ability to absorb management actions, potential road damage, maximum potential hardmast production, sensitivity of floodplains, potential habitat of sensitive, threatened, endangered, or other rare species habitat, suitability for firewood production and potential for archaeological sites. Additional rulebases have been developed which help the managers determine which management actions are appropriate to achieve the desired conditions.
Ronald J. Perisho
Jessieville Ranger District
Ouachita National Forest, USFS
P.O. Box 189
Jessieville, AR 71949
Telephone: 501-984-5313
Fax: 501-984-6253
Forrest L. Oliveria
Forest Health, State and Private Forestry, USFS
2500 Shreveport Highway
Pineville, LA 71360
Telephone: 318-476-7294
Douglas K. Loh
Starr Lab
Rangeland Ecology and Management
Texas A & M University
College Station, TX 77843-2126
Telephone: 409-845-1551