The CFLA report on the Timber Supply Analysis states that:
• short-term harvests are reduced to allow for larger harvests in the future.
• equal percentage declines per decade tend to reduce harvests more in the short term and defer smaller declines to the future
• timber harvesting land base reductions for non-timber values are treated as requirements rather than choices, so there is no guarantee that the best decisions are being made.
• timber supply is reduced due to harvesting restrictions for non-timber values, yet there is no testing to see if the restrictions provide the best balance of outputs
The CFLA report asserts that the policies used to determine the shape of the base case harvest forecast are somewhat arbitrary, with no rationale or criteria provided to explain why some trade-offs are made and others are not. The report recommends that the Forest Service analyze the forest cover trade-offs that could be made in the short term to maintain a higher level of harvest than the base case.
