Abstract
Searching for an optimal harvest scheduling regime has been a major concern of forest managers. The balance of costs and benefits of a management practice vary depending upon its efficiency. This study addresses the harvest scheduling problem with a log transportation network within the integer programming framework. A harvest scheduling system was constructed with using commercial software, CPLEX, as an optimizer to search for an optimal tactical solution. A case study was conducted using a forest management problem in Chile over a short time horizon to investigate the effect of integer restrictions on road construction and harvest decision variables on the regime. Computational comparison of a linear programming formulation and integer programming formulation showed that without considering road construction constraints in the problem formulation, serious costs may result in the management regime. Timing of the harvest of a unit may also change when integer restrictions are imposed on the harvest decision variables.
