ForSys
Release Date
January 2, 2017
The ForSys Planning System is a decision support tool that simulates land management scenarios and measures outcomes at a range of scales. ForSys was developed to help managers prioritize forest and fuel management investments and understand tradeoffs among alternative scenarios. It is available for wide application by nontechnical users on multiple platforms, including Windows desktop (ForSysX) and in R (ForSysR). Read the ForSys Fact Sheet for more information.
To learn more, view case studies, download ForSys and get started, visit the ForSys Research Consortium website.
Principal Investigators: Alan Ager and Michelle Day
Key Use
Forest Management
ForSys Demo Video
-
Videohttps://research.fs.usda.gov/firelab/products/multimedia/videos/forsys-scenario-planning-tool
Project Page
For more detailed information on ForSys, see the project page.
-
Project
https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/projects/forsysStation
People
Project Contact/Co-Investigator
-
Person
Michelle A. Day
Biological Scientisthttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/michelle.day
Principal Investigator
Fact Sheet
-
Fact Sheet
https://research.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/understory/forsys-planning-system-glance
Publications
- Patricia N. Manley, Liraz Bistritz, Nicholas Povak, Michelle A. Day. 2025. Going slow to go fast: Landscape designs to achieve multiple benefits
- Michelle A. Day, Claire Tortorelli, Lisa M. Ellsworth, Karen C. Short, Jessi L. Brown, Sofia Koutzoukis, Julia Olszewski, Alan Ager, Jeanne C. Chambers. 2025. Optimizing woody fuel treatments to reduce wildfire risk to sagebrush ecosystems in the Great Basin of the western US
- Alan Ager. 2024. Improving the evaluation of spatial optimization models for prioritizing landscape restoration and wildfire risk reduction investments
- Bruno A. Aparício, Alan Ager, Michelle A. Day. 2024. Maximizing opportunities for co-implementing fuel break networks and restoration projects
- Michelle A. Day, Alan Ager, Rachel M. Houtman, Cody R. Evers. 2023. Prioritizing restoration and risk reduction landscape projects with the ForSys planning system
- Alan Ager, Michelle A. Day, Bruno A. Aparıcio, Rachel Houtman, Andrew Stinchfield. 2023. Optimizing the implementation of a forest fuel break network
- Michelle A. Day, Rachel M. Houtman, Pedro Belavenutti, Chris Ringo, Alan Ager, Steve Bassett. 2021. An assessment of forest and woodland restoration priorities to address wildfire risk in New Mexico
- Alan Ager, Michelle A. Day, Amy Waltz, Mark Nigrelli, Kevin C. Vogler, Mary Lata. 2021. Balancing ecological and economic objectives in restoration of fire-adapted forests: Case study from the Four Forest Restoration Initiative
- Alan Ager, Cody R. Evers, Michelle A. Day, Fermin J. Alcasena, Rachel Houtman. 2021. Planning for future fire: Scenario analysis of an accelerated fuel reduction plan for the western United States
- Palaiologos Palaiologou, Kostas Kalabokidis, Alan Ager, Spyros Galatsidas, Lampros Papalampros, Michelle A. Day. 2021. Spatial optimization and tradeoffs of alternative forest management scenarios in Macedonia, Greece
- Pedro Belavenutti, Woodam Chung, Alan Ager. 2021. The economic reality of the forest and fuel management deficit on a fire prone western US national forest
- Michele Salis, Liliana Del Giudice, Pete R. Robichaud, Alan Ager, Annalisa Canu, Pierpaolo Duce, Grazia Pellizzaro, Andrea Ventura, Fermin Alcasena-Urdiroz, Donatella Spano, Bachisio Arca. 2019. Coupling wildfire spread and erosion models to quantify post-fire erosion before and after fuel treatments
- Alan Ager, Rachel M. Houtman, Michelle A. Day, Chris Ringo, Palaiologos Palaiologou. 2019. Tradeoffs between US national forest harvest targets and fuel management to reduce wildfire transmission to the wildland urban interface
- Fermin J. Alcasena, Alan Ager, Michele Salis, Michelle A. Day, Cristina Vega-Garcia. 2018. Optimizing prescribed fire allocation for managing fire risk in central Catalonia
- Alan Ager, Kevin C. Vogler, Michelle A. Day, John D. Bailey. 2017. Economic opportunities and trade-offs in collaborative forest landscape restoration
- Tiago M. Oliveira, Ana M. G. Barros, Alan Ager, Paulo M. Fernandes. 2016. Assessing the effect of a fuel break network to reduce burnt area and wildfire risk transmission
- Alan Ager, Nicole M. Vaillant, Andrew McMahan. 2013. Restoration of fire in managed forests: a model to prioritize landscapes and analyze tradeoffs
Last updated October 13, 2026