Mississippi State University Releases Updated Forestry Decision-Making Software
Researchers at Mississippi State University have released an updated version of a forestry decision-making software tool. The new version, FORVAL-XL, is built for Microsoft Excel and is designed to help foresters and land managers evaluate the economic aspects of management decisions. The software and its user manual are available for free download.
Software Overview and Purpose
The Forest Valuation and Investment Analysis (FORVAL) software is a tool for quantifying and evaluating forestry management decisions. The updated version, FORVAL-XL, is specifically designed to operate within Microsoft Excel.
The software is intended to support investment analysis for forestry operations, which can range from small private landholdings to large timber operations.
It is designed for use by consultants, land managers, real estate investors, and forestry students.
Development and Background
The original FORVAL software was created in 1999 by scientists at Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Research Center (FWRC).
The development of FORVAL-XL was led by Steve Bullard, associate dean of the College of Forest Resources and associate director of the FWRC. The coding was assisted by Jagadish Dosapati, a master's student in data science. Thomas Straka, professor emeritus at Clemson University, and Robert Grala, Mississippi State University's George L. Switzer Professor of Forestry, also contributed to the project.
During development, forestry students from Robert Grala's forest resource economics course served as beta testers, providing feedback on the software.
Key Features and Functionality
The developers state that FORVAL-XL maintains the core functionality of performing complex financial calculations involving varied costs and revenues over time.
New features highlighted in the update include:
- Discounted cash-flow results.
- Sensitivity analyses.
- The generation of tables and graphs.
- The ability to export final analysis results as a PDF file.
Developer Statements
Steve Bullard stated that this version maintains the ability to make complex calculations while adding new features. He described FORVAL-XL as "the most user-friendly version yet."
Robert Grala stated that using students as beta testers allowed the development team to identify issues and troubleshoot in real time.
"This process helped tailor the program to the needs of future users," Grala said.
Availability
FORVAL-XL and an accompanying user's manual are available for free download at the Forest and Wildlife Research Center's software page: