NED-2: A decision support system for integrated forest ecosystem management

NED-2 is a Windows-based system designed to improve project-level planning and decision making by providing useful and scientifically sound information to natural resource managers. Resources currently addressed include visual quality, ecology, forest health, timber, water, and wildlife. NED-2 expands on previous versions of NED applications by integrating treatment prescriptions, growth simulation, and alternative comparisons with evaluations of multiple resources across a management unit. The NED-2 system is adaptable for small private holdings, large public properties, or cooperative management across multiple ownerships. NED-2 implements a goal-driven decision process that ensures that all relevant goals are considered; the character and current condition of forestland are known; alternatives to manage the land are designed and tested; the future forest under each alternative is simulated; and the alternative selected achieves the owner's goals. NED-2 is designed to link with the NedLite package for field data collection using a handheld PDA, and is constructed to be easy to link to third-party applications. The NED process is being field tested to demonstrate its utility and identify weaknesses. Results of case studies are summarized for two owners, a private individual and the City of Baltimore, Maryland, and its reservoir lands.