A Forest Management Process to Incorporate Multiple Objectives: a Framework for Systematic Public Input

A multi-objective forest management process employing mathematical programming and the analytic hierarchy process has been developed for systematically incorporating public input. The process was tested as a “proof of concept” for four values and five stakeholders in Crown License 5 in New Brunswick. The impacts of tradeoffs among various weighting schemes were evaluated. Analyses of stakeholders’ expected satisfaction were conducted for each scenario. The forest management implications of different weighting methods are discussed.