Some wood-transportation modeling problems associated with Quebec's new land-management system

This thesis describes the system of timber limits used in Canada's Quebec Province and the methods of wood transportation associated with it. Each of these wood-transportation methods is weighed, and its future under the New Land-Management System proposed by the Department of Lands and Forests is assessed.

This New Land-Management System is analyzed, primarily from the viewpoint of wood transportation. The base of a transportation model using linear programming is introduced. The supply sources are defined, and the method of calculating the allowable cut of timber is presented. The wood industries which produce chips are considered as supply sources additional to roundwood from the forests. For the purpose of this paper, the demand sources or destinations are the 59 pulp and paper mills presently operating in Quebec.

The proposed transportation model would be subject to some exogenous constraints. These are political constraints--e.g., laws governing transportation; economic constraints, which include wood coming from the private forests; social constraints, such as those imposed by the desirability of maintaining employment in each community; and the constraints introduced by forest fires, insects, and diseases. Methods for handling these constraints are discussed.