Forest residues management involves disposal, modification, or utilization of wood products. The costs and benefits of the several alternatives available to forest managers must be evaluated in relation to land management goals and constraints in four areas: (1) unused wood fiber, (2) conflagrations, (3) impairment of forest resources, and (4) opposition to treatment of residues. Advance modification of fuels or installation of fuelbreaks on strategic locations may be the best residue management for fire control, but probable loss must be weighed against cost. A simple framework is proposed that uses quantitative data on costs, benefits, and probabilities, but the opportunity exists to use qualitative data until research results become available.

The use of goal programing for selecting forest residue treatment alternatives within a multiple goal framework is described. The basic features of goal programing are reviewed and illustrated with a hypothetical problem involving the selection of residue treatments for 10 cutting units. Twelve residue-regeneration treatment combinations are evaluated by using physical, economic, and environmental goals. Empirical results are reported for four different goal priority sets. An interpretation of the sensitivity of the optimal treatment schedule associated with each priority set is also presented. Results indicate that goal programing offers considerable promise as an operational decisionmaking tool. Unresolved problems include the selection of decision variables and the quantification of goal attainment levels, goal preferences, and the relationships between forest residue treatment methods and managerial goals.