Simulating Cable Logging in the Alleghany Region of Pennsylvania: A Case Study

The eight-county Allegheny Region of Pennsylvania is 84% forested and comprises one of the state's most valuable timbersheds. Much of this area is inaccessible to conventional logging equipment due to steep slopes, poor drainage, and high erodability. For this reason, there has been a recently growing interest in using cable yarders to harvest these areas. A computer simulation model has been developed to aid in investigating the feasibility of cable logging in this region. This paper explains the design of the model, discusses the field data collected, evaluates the model, and makes recommendations for further data acquisition and model refinement.