The early years of SILVAH

My task today is to tell you a little about the early years of SILVAH and some of the events that led to its development. The computer program we call SILVAH was preceded by many years of research into four main factors that affect the outcomes of silvicultural treatments in Allegheny hardwood forests. 1) The role of well-developed advance reproduction for ensuring regeneration success. 2) The impacts of protracted browsing by white-tailed deer. 3) Effects of interfering plants such as ferns and understory beech on regenerationsurvival and development. 4) Better ways to assess stand conditions and prescribe appropriate silviculturaltreatments. This involved assimilating the findings from the research into silviculturalguidelines and then into a system of stand inventory, analysis, and prescription writing. That system was originally used without the benefit of computers.