INTERACTIVE RESOLUTION OF MULTIOBJECTIVE FOREST PLANNING PROBLEMS WITH SHADOW PRICE AND PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS

Forest management planning is a joint process of decision synthesis and tradeoff analysis. We present an interactive method of multi-objective linear programming for supporting the planning process. In the proposed procedure, emphasis is placed on reducing uncertainty that surrounds the resolution of goal conflicts. Parametric analysis is iteratively performed to shed insights into the question of what happens to goal tradeoffs if a particular criterion is achieved at alternative levels. The composite objective function guiding the parametric analysis is updated as decision maker replaces a previous choice with an improved one. Central to this step is the induction of criterion weights implied by a decision instance, through the use of shadow prices. Finally, ordinal goal priority is employed to generate initial solution and decompose a multi-objective planning problem into more tractable subproblems. The interactive procedure is illustrated by a land-use planning model containing five forest-related outputs, including noncommercial grazing, commercial grazing, timber, camping, and profit.