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 determine the survey intensity required to most likely locate any prehistoric or historic archaeological sites within project areas or at the watershed level.
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 or compartment identifier for the watershed or compartment to be analyzed and displays the appropriate 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 prehistoric or historic rulebase 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 the historic or prehistoric rulebase. Once the rulebase has been selected and run, the results may be displayed spatially on the screen. The color displays are printed on a color printer using an imbedded AML within the shell program. These spatial displays are very valuable to arcgeologists in determining the appropriate level of survey to conduct in various portions of the project area where management actions are proposed. The spatial displays are attached to the archaeologists' report to the State Historic Preservation Office.
The expert designed rulebase was developed by three staff archaeologists under the guidance of the Forest Archaeologist and Jessieville Ranger District Staff. The rulebase uses ARC, TIN, and INFO to create slope and aspect coverages from the district contour coverages. While an average compartment may contain 30-40 stand polygons, the same compartment may contain 5,000-10,000 polygons within TIN. The slope and aspect polygons are combined with other scored polygons, buffers, and overlays to create the final scores.
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
Meeks Etchieson