INTRODUCTION 



The timber industry generally has applied modern techniques of management to such 

 things as plant location, layout, and materials handling. However, the logging seg- 

 ment of the industry has been rather slow in adopting modern techniques, and there is 

 still much room for improvement. 



In the past several years, logging research efforts have increased and some 

 improvements in logging and associated activities have been realized. Much more 

 effort is needed before maximum efficiency in these areas can be attained. 



The objective of this paper is to develop a model that includes work roads in 

 the optimization of skidding methods. A work road is generally used only for harvest- 

 ing and is usually not added to the permanent system. Although the solution to this 

 model requires a computer, it is known that many modem loggers have either direct 

 or indirect access to computers for payroll and accounting purposes, or for other 

 uses, and its use would not present a special problem for most of the potential users. 



Although it is recognized that other constraints such as impacts on the environ- 

 ment (i.e., where they are significant and can be adequately appraised) could lie tlie 

 deciding factors in some cases, only the direct cost of logging is included in this 

 analysis. It is believed, however, that the model presented here can be useful for 

 forest areas where these environmental impacts are relatively insignificant. Also, 

 this model will eventually be extended by our project to include other constraints. 



