Critical path method applied to research project planning: Fire Economics Evaluation System (FEES)

Abstract

The critical path method (CPM) of network analysis (a) depicts precedence among the many activities in a project by a network diagram; (b) identifies critical activities by calculating their starting, finishing, and float times; and (c) displays possible schedules by constructing time charts. CPM was applied to the development of the Forest Service's Fire Economics Evaluation System (FEES)--a simulation model for evaluating fire program options. A computerized CPM package analyzed 47 activities, and produced basic schedules and labor required for each. One program in the package was used to alter a basic schedule to produce one that required less variable levels of labor. The CPM approach can be applied to a variety of resource management and other forestry-related projects.

Citation

Anderson, Earl B.; Hales, R. Stanton. 1986. Critical path method applied to research project planning: Fire Economics Evaluation System (FEES). Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-93. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 12 p.