A forest landscape plan develops management objectives for landscape patterns and commodity production over time. The planning methodology builds upon a stand based approach to prescriptions by incorporating an analysis of patterns defined by stand aggregates at a landscape scale. In three pilot projects, desirable landscape patterns were defined by aerial objectives for early, mid and mature successional stages of vegetation. In addition, spatial criteria were adopted for mature interior forest which included minimum patch size, relative abundance, and minimum distance from adjacent early successional stages. The objectives apply to each ten year increment of the plan, including the final period eighty years hence.
In a stand based approach to forest management, the chronology of forest structural characteristics shares geometry between planning periods. The regions data model supports the representation of the predicted landscape changes over time. The REGIONQUERY and REGIONBUFFER commands facilitate both the aggregation of stand level characteristics to a landscape scale, as well as the analysis of predicted landscape patterns. An ArcView project was incorporated as an interface to visually evaluate predicted patterns, and produce summary charts derived from a virtual table of region subclass polygonattrbute tables. In all three pilot landscape plans, acceptable patterns were achieved in two iterations of stand regime assignments.
Dennis L. Murphy
Western Wood Products Division
Potlatch Corp.
805 Mill Rd.
Annex Bldg.
Lewiston, ID 83501
Telephone: 208-799-1156
Fax: 208-799-1018