Natural Resource Assessment and Analysis

Staff/Personnel

Michael Bevers
Forest Management Research Scientist

mbevers@fs.fed.us
(970) 295-5911 -- Fax: (970) 295-5959

Research Interests

Research interests include applications of optimization and simulation operations research techniques to improve management of natural resource systems. Current studies are focused on formulating and solving spatial optimization models that reduce wildfire losses and wildlife species extirpations in a risk management context.

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Related Appointments

• Associate Editor, Canadian Journal of Forest Research 2004
• Associate Editor, Operations Research 1999-2002
• Guest Associate Editor, International Transactions of Operational Research 2002-2003
• Guest Associate Editor, Forest Science 1998, 2000-2001
• Faculty Affiliate, Colorado State University 1996-2000, 2005

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Education

• B.S. with high distinction: December 1981, University of Arizona, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Major: Forest - Watershed Management
• Ph.D. conferred: December 1995, Colorado State University, College of Natural Resources, Major: Forest Science

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Professional Affiliations

• Society of American Foresters and
  SAF Management Science and Operations Research Working Group (E4)
• INFORMS-Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences and
  Operations Research: The Science of Better
• Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

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Honors and Awards

• RMRS Eminent Scientific Publication Award, 2003
• USDA Certificates of Merit: 1984, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2001
• Meritorious Service Award, Editorial Board of Operations Research, 2000
• INFORMS Award for Best Conference Paper in Natural Resources: 1997, 2001
• Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award University of Arizona, 1983
• Phi Kappa Phi and Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Societies, 1981

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Publications

Books

Bevers, M. and T. M. Barrett, comps. 2005. Systems Analysis in Forest Resources: Proceedings of the 2003 Symposium, October 7-9, Stevenson, Washington. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-656.

Hof, J. and M. Bevers. 2002. Spatial Optimization in Ecological Applications. Columbia University Press, New York, 257 p.

Hof, J. and M. Bevers. 1998. Spatial Optimization for Managed Ecosystems. Columbia University Press, New York, 258 p.

Book Chapters

Bevers, M. and B. Kent. In review. Managing forest fire risk with chance-constrained programming. In: W. Martin, C. Raish and B. Kent, eds. Wildfire and Fuels Management: Risk and Human Reaction. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC.

Flather, C. H., M. Bevers and J. Hof. 2002. Prescribing habitat layouts: analysis of optimal placement for landscape planning. Chapter 23 in: K. J. Gutzwiller, ed., Applying Landscape Ecology in Biological Conservation. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 428-453.

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Research Articles

Bevers, M. In review. Optimizing seasonal firefighting resource allocations with random
consequences: A stochastic integer and chance-constrained programming estimation approach. Canadian Journal of Forest Research.

Bevers, M., P. N. Omi and J. Hof. 2004. Random location of fuel treatments in wildland community interfaces: A percolation approach. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34:164-173.

Bevers, M., C. H. Flather, J. Hof and H. F. Kaiser. 2003. Sustaining wildlife populations in productively managed forests. Pages 225-242 in: G.J. Arthaud and T.M. Barrett (eds.), Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Berlin.

Flather, C. H. and M. Bevers. 2002. Patchy reaction-diffusion and population abundance: The relative importance of habitat amount and arrangement. American Naturalist 159:40-56.

Hof , J., M. Bevers, D. W. Uresk and G. L. Schenbeck. 2002. Optimizing habitat location for black-tailed prairie dogs in southwestern South Dakota. Ecological Modelling 147:11-21.

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Spring, D. A., M. Bevers, J. O. S. Kennedy and D. Harley. 2001. Economics of a nest-box program for the conservation of an endangered species: a reappraisal. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31:1992-2003.

Hof , J. and M. Bevers. 2001. A spatial linear program for optimally scheduling forest management to meet stormflow objectives. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 37:571-584.

Hof , J. and M. Bevers. 2000. Optimal timber harvest scheduling with spatially defined sediment objectives. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 30:1494-1500.

Hof , J. and M. Bevers. 2000. Direct spatial optimization in natural resource management: four linear programming examples. Annals of Operations Research 95:67-81.

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Hof , J. and M. Bevers. 2000. Linear approaches to spatial optimization. In: Society of American Foresters Seventh Symposium on Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, Bellaire, MI, May 28-31, 1997, pp. 14-21.

Hof , J., P. N. Omi, M. Bevers and R. D. Laven. 2000. A timing-oriented approach to spatial allocation of fire management effort. Forest Science 46:442-451.

Hof , J. and M. Bevers. 2000. Optimizing forest stand management with natural regeneration and single-tree choice variables. Forest Science 46:168-175.

Bevers, M. and C. H. Flather. 1999. The distribution and abundance of populations limited at multiple spatial scales. Journal of Animal Ecology 68:976-987.

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Bevers, M. and J. Hof. 1999. Spatially optimizing wildlife habitat edge effects in forest management linear and mixed-integer programs. Forest Science 45:249-258.

Bevers, M. and C. H. Flather. 1999. Numerically exploring habitat fragmentation effects on populations using cell-based coupled map lattices. Theoretical Population Biology 55:61-76.

Hof , J., C. H. Sieg and M. Bevers. 1999. Spatial and temporal optimization in habitat placement for a threatened plant: the case of the western prairie fringed orchid. Ecological Modelling 115:61-76.

Bevers, M., J. Hof, D. W. Uresk and G. L. Schenbeck. 1997. Spatial optimization of prairie dog colonies for black-footed ferret recovery. Operations Research 45:495-507.

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Bevers, M. 1997. The need for spatial optimization in modeling land capability: a black-footed ferret case example. In: The Society of American Foresters 1996 National Convention Proceedings, Albuquerque, NM, November 9-13, pp. 332-337.

Hof , J., M. Bevers and B. Kent. 1997. An optimization approach to area-based forest pest management over time and space. Forest Science 43:121-128.

Bevers, M., J. Hof and C. A. Troendle. 1996. Spatially optimizing forest management schedules to meet stormflow constraints. Water Resources Bulletin 32:1007-1015.

Hof , J., M. Bevers and J. Pickens. 1996. Chance-constrained optimization with spatially autocorrelated forest yields. Forest Science 42:118-123.

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Bevers, M., J. Hof, B. Kent and M. G. Raphael. 1995. Sustainable forest management for optimizing multispecies wildlife habitat: a coastal Douglas-fir example. Natural Resource Modeling 9:1-23.

Bevers, M. and B. Kent. 1995. Forest regulation under deterministic equilibrium dynamics. In: Proceedings of the 1994 Symposium on Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, J. Sessions and J. D. Brodie, eds., Pacific Grove, CA, September 6-9, pp. 134-137.

Hof , J., M. Bevers and J. Pickens. 1995. Pragmatic approaches to optimization with random yield coefficients. Forest Science 41:501-512.

Hof , J., M. Bevers, L. Joyce and B. Kent. 1994. An integer programming approach for spatially and temporally optimizing wildlife populations. Forest Science 40:177-191.

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Technical Publications

USDA Forest Service. 1997. Spectrum Overview. Ecosystem Management Coordination Staff, Washington, DC, 37 p.

USDA Forest Service. 1996. Spectrum User Guide. Ecosystem Management Coordination Staff, Washington, DC, 386 p.

Bevers, M. and B. Kent. 1994. Land management planning analysis on the national forests: evolving problems require changing techniques. In: The Society of American Foresters 1993 National Convention Proceedings, Indianapolis, IN, November 7-10, pp. 327-332.

Kent, B. M., M. Bevers, K. E. Sleavin, J. Merzenich, J. Heiner, M. Turner and S. Hall. 1993. Operations Guide for FORPLAN on Microcomputers (Release 14.2). USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-235, 88 p.

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Bevers, M., B. Meneghin and J. G. Hof. 1993. Formulating MAXMIN objectives in national forest planning models. USDA Forest Service Research Note RM-518, 11 p.

Kent, B. and M. Bevers. 1992. The evolution of linear programming based land management planning models in the USDA Forest Service. In: Integrating Forest Information over Space and Time: Proceedings of the Conference, G. Wood and B. Turner, eds., IUFRO Conference 13-17 January, 1992, Canberra , Australia. ANUTECH Pty Ltd, pp. 253-267.

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Bevers, M. and B. M. Kent . 1991. Generalized harvest scheduling in FORPLAN Version 2: an update. In: Proceedings of the 1991 Symposium on Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, M. A. Buford, comp., Charleston, SC, March 3-6, 1991. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report SE-74, pp. 297-299.

Kent, B. M. and M. Bevers. 1988. Design considerations for LP-based forest planning systems: perspectives from FORPLAN. In: The 1988 Symposium on Systems Analysis in Forest Resources, B. M. Kent and L. S. Davis, tech. coords,, Pacific Grove, CA, March 29 - April 1, 1988. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-161, pp. 197-202.

Robinson, K. S., J. W. Kelly and M. Bevers. 1986, revised July 1987. FORPLAN Version 2: Operations Manual. USDA Forest Service Land Management Planning publication, Washington, DC, 90 p.

Bevers, M. 1986. FORPLAN Version 2 flat file capability. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Lessons from Using FORPLAN, R. G. Bailey, tech. coord., Denver, CO, April 29 - May 1, 1986. USDA Forest Service Land Management Planning publication, Washington, DC, pp. 216-221.

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