Multicriteria nonlinear programming for optimal spatial allocation of stands.

The forest planning problem is formulated using stand level variables for each management unit. It is shown that harvests can be spatially allocated to stands to meet nonadjacency requirements by using a nonlinear programming formulation. A penalty function form of the mathematical program is used to find solutions. This study represents a first attempt at a possibly robust technique. It appears to be applicable to small forest areas. For larger forest areas containing many stands (>200) the method is predicted to converge too slowly for practical use