Introduction/Conceptual Outline

Working as a GIS consultant for a logging company, I've been asked to find the ideal place for logging in the Grand River Basin of Southeastern Ontario. I've been provided with the relevant data on the area as well as the criteria the company wishes me to use to determine the best site for logging in this area. A list of the criteria for the analysis follows.

  1. Area must not be within view of any of the area's major cities.
  2. Area must contain one of the commercially-viable tree species in the area (the company wishes to concentrate on eastern hemlock and eastern white pine). The company has provided me with data about soils that these trees most likely will be found in and wishes to select from the areas that correspond to these criteria. These criteria are low soil quality (Class 1 or 2) as in these areas both these trees are most competitive, quite high soil drainage (moderate to rapid used) and low slope slope (under 10 degrees). These soil types, drainage types and soil slopes favour these trees and give the best chance of the company finding a good logging spot.
  3. Area must obviously be within one of the current woodlot areas in the Grand River Basin.
  4. The bigger the area the better, since more wood collected without changing spots will make the company more money (a minimum size of 5 acres was given).
  5. The further the area is from rivers and lakes the better (minimum of 55 meters by environmental standards).
  6. The further the area is from a major city the better (minimum distance of 2000 meters perscribed)
  7. The closer the area is to a road the better, since this allows access to the site by logging trucks.

The first three criteria provide a constraining area for the multi-criteria evaluation done with the last four criteria.  The relative importance of these last four criteria was also given by the logging company. Area is the most important to them (at 0.45 out of 1), since it is the most important factor determining how much money they can make from this operation. The second most important is distance to rivers and streams (at 0.25 out of 1) in order to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with environmentalists. The third most important criteria (at 0.20 out of 1) is distance to a major city. This criteria would be more important but all the area within view of a city is already eliminated therefore there shouldn't be much area near any cities left over. Finally, distance to a road is the least important of the four criteria (at 0.10 out of 1). The company would prefer the site to be near a road, but is used to constructing new access roads (which compared to overall operation costs do not cost a lot) and can deal with being in a relatively unaccessible location. All these criteria will be combined using a GIS to find the best possible location for logging in the Grand River Basin based on the company's criteria.

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