Why and What?

Why? Forest and natural resource management decisions are complex because they must consider environmental and social interests. The CRAFT process provides a balanced way to understand the problem at hand, while allowing planning teams to draw conclusions based on various action scenarios and their resulting impact on the environment and people.           

What?  CRAFT provides a structured approach to identifying objectives, developing and comparing alternative actions, and displaying the tradeoffs and risks associated with different decisions. CRAFT will:

• lead you through four distinct stages of planning and analysis:
  1) Specifying Objectives; 2) Designing Alternatives; 3) Modeling Effects; and 4) Synthesis;
  
  
• provide a task-oriented format called the Wizard, for a slower, more methodical pace. The Wizard can be used to target specific questions for each project; and
  
  
• provide additional tools for analysis, including a Project Portal which organizes team information, shared documents and a GIS Viewer for easy access to relevant GIS data.