Using economic factors in managing Appalachian hardwoods for high quality

Because of the extremely wide range in product values from hardwood stands, harvest decisions must consider a multiplicity of factors, many of them economic. Among these are species, tree size, tree quality, logging costs, and market alternatives. This study demonstrates how to incorporate these, using a new microcomputer program with growth projection, YIELD-MS (Hepp, 1986), to find an economically favorable regime for a particular hardwood stand. The simulation approach presented allows for economic and silvicultural comparisons of many alternative treatments that need to be considered each time a stand is re-examined for prescription in the progress of a management plan. A decision tree was developed as a systematic way of reviewing the possibilities. In order to reduce the search time necessary to move through the decision tree, some parameters were found for describing value growth of hardwood stands. The percentage of stand basal area capable of grade change (PBAGI) and the spread of percent price differentials between log grades (PPD) were tested by a series of simulation runs on data from a variety of actual stand conditions found in the Appalachian region. The results of these simulation and sensitivity tests indicate that as PBAGI and PPD increased the various economic criteria improved in value. It is concluded that recent developments in growth and yield modeling make it possible to economically evaluate various silvicultural treatments and harvest intensities at the stand level, and indications are that management for high quality can be economically desirable.