A decision support system for the Menominee Legacy Forest

Managers of the Menominee Tribe's reservation timberlands determined that one third of the tribal forest could be converted to more productive and valuable tree species. With Northern Arizona University, they developed a decision support system to devise a schedule for implementing the conversion. This comprehensive planning tool coordinates conversion activities with other management so that general tribal goals for both harvest and forest structure are accomplished forestwide. The planning problems faced by the Menominee in defining the desired future state of their forest and developing strategies for achieving it are representative of problems faced by forest managers throughout North America.