Welcome to 4S Tool, the
Forest Stand
Software Support
System! 4S Tool is a web-based program designed for
private forest owners who wish to forecast what their forest may
look like in the future. It is based on the Forest Vegetation
Simulator created by the USDA Forest Service and the decision
support tool of the Sustaining Private Forests Initiative created by
Dave Larsen and Chad Larson of the University of Missouri, Columbia.
It is one of the products of the Sustaining Private Forests
Initiative of University of Missouri at Columbia, Purdue University,
and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the Central Hardwood
Forest Region of the US.
Our goal with this tool, designed for forest owners in Indiana
and Missouri, is to provide generalized possibilities for a
landowner's forest under various management scenarios, to encourage
communication with natural resource professionals by making
landowners aware of potential forest management techniques, and to
promote stewardship by demonstrating a variety of forest values,
beyond those related solely to economics. By no means is this tool
intended to replace the expert advice that can be obtained from
professional foresters and wildlife biologists.
The first version of 4S Tool is implemented for two Midwestern
states, Indiana and Missouri. To begin using 4S Tool, click one of
the states.
