Especially across the western U.S., the Forest Service is ramping up fuels treatments and forest restoration activities to reduce risk of extreme wildfire and improve forest health. While low-grade logs and biomass from mechanical fuels treatments and forest restoration activities often require costly removal, they can be used for a wide variety of economically valuable products, including lumber, biochar, liquid fuels, heat and power, and advanced bioproducts. Revenue from these products could offset the costs of treatments. However, these materials from national forests and rangelands often go unused, despite their potential economic value and our current potential production capacity. Left in the forest, they can fuel future wildfires.

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Nate Anderson

Logs cut during a fuel thinning on the Coconino National Forest wait for a forwarder to bring them to the landing.

Researchers are studying market-based solutions to this problem. Often, traditional green timber supply chains are applied to the restoration economy, and there are limited markets for log-grade logs and biomass material. Therefore, the overarching goal of this project is to grow understanding of forest product supply chains, in particular the relationships between mechanical fuels treatments, product removals, and the forest industry. Using that analysis, researchers are engineering new models of supply chains that will improve efficiency and expand benefits to forest health, community safety, and industry growth.

This project focuses on landscapes with high wildfire risk in the western U.S. The researchers are targeting the following landscapes for applied case studies because they span a wide range of biophysical and market conditions: Colorado Front Range (Colorado), Enchanted Circle (New Mexico), and Central Washington Initiative (Washington).

Project Significance

Modern supply chains that are engineered for the forest restoration economy can generate an array of benefits for land managers, the forest industry, and communities, including improved forest health. This project can help forest managers better understand the logistics, costs, and benefits of fuels and restoration treatments and associated product removals. Optimized supply chain models can improve economic feasibility to meet land management goals and reduce wildfire risk. 

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Nate Anderson

Researchers collect productivity and time study data for log processing on a fuel treatment in the Coconino National Forest.

More efficient supply chains can serve as a catalyst for better profitability, workforce development, and industry expansion. Better integration of low-grade logs and biomass into these supply chains can improve wood utilization and lead to a more stable and reliable wood and fiber supply. 

Local communities are also likely to benefit if wood and biomass from treatment is put to productive use rather than burned in piles or consumed by wildfire. Less wildfire leads to less smoke and better health, protected water supplies, and protection of many other values at risk. 

Finally, at the landscape level, mechanical removal of small-diameter trees in overstocked stands can improve forest health. As a component of forest management, reducing stand density through thinning can also help control pests, diseases, and invasive species. 

Project Objectives

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Nate Anderson

Researchers collect productivity and time study data for a harvester on a fuel treatment in the Coconino National Forest.

1. Characterize current forest operations. 
   1. Use operations research methods to analyze and model data from past and ongoing restoration treatments.
2. Provide recommendations to improve operations and logistics. 
   1. Identify and address gaps in existing approaches and models for forest operations that estimate the productivity and costs of logistics as well as associated revenues from products.
3. Develop and optimize supply chain models for fuels treatments. 
   1. Develop quantitative representations of supply chains that identify harvest and delivery constraints to specific facilities.
4. Provide decision tools for facility location and biohub development. 
   1. Examine opportunities for the use of different types of facilities to improve supply chains, develop methods to optimize site location, and examine transportation system trade-offs.
5. Disseminate research results to key stakeholders. 
   1. Provide useful templates and tools for supply chain data collection, analysis, and modeling that can be applied to local landscape analysis in many different locations; and effectively communicate study results to diverse practitioners. 

Implementation

The research team is cooperating to build an integrated modeling and analytical framework that combines geospatial analysis, mathematical programming and optimization, and machine learning. This approach will yield products that are directly relevant to landowners and industry professionals for supply chain management. The team is developing core supply chain elements, including data packages, regression models, simulation-based outputs, maps, and inventory policies that can be deployed by stakeholders at different scales and locations. 

Expected Results

Products, Services, and Events

Data

• Database of harvest attributes and daily/weekly productivity and cost estimates

Peer-reviewed products: Models, methods, and evaluations

• Production models and model validation, with applied case studies 
• Supply chain models and methods to predict product flow from treatments under various logistics and market conditions 
• Quantitative evaluation of alternative supply chain configurations to reduce costs, increase productivity and expand utilization of logs and woody biomass 

Recommendations

• Recommendations for data collection and dashboard design for fuel treatment and restoration focused specifically on forest operations and logistics
• Recommendations to overcome supply chain constraints and related barriers to utilization

Workshops

• Workshops and training with updated regional productivity and cost estimates for logistics, including harvesting and transportation 
• Workshops, training, and materials to guide collection of supply chain data and associated modeling and implementation 
• Application of the information, models, approaches, and tools developed in this study to new landscapes

Broader Impacts

• Improved restoration contracting and logistics facilitated by: 
  • Standardized, scientific data collection and analysis to support units’ ability to conduct planning and reviews of sales, contracts, and agreements 
  • More accurate cost and productivity data for contract appraisals 
  • A better understanding of harvesting and logistics options for these treatments 
• Lower costs and higher productivity in operations 
• Use of biomass materials that are currently being burned for disposal  
• Added value and increased productivity to reduce costs 
• Investments in new industry capacity 
• Coordinated industrial activities through optimized supply chain management