From Forest Growth to Market Value
The Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) provides the biometric foundation of the FRASS Approach. Each color in the map above identifies an FVS variant calibrated to regional forest types and conditions. FRASS builds directly on this national modeling framework to extend forest analytics seamlessly across the United States and into western Canada.
Where FVS defines biological growth and volume reconciliation, FRASS adds the financial dimension through Delivered Log Market Portfolios. Each analysis is anchored in the regional market where logs are bought and sold, using observed monthly prices in markets characterized by many buyers and many sellers. This structure supports defensible, competition-based values.
For each market area, FRASS maintains a monthly time series of delivered log prices by species and grade, in both U.S. Dollars (USD) and Canadian Dollars (CAD) where applicable. The Real Price Appreciation (RPA) Forecast Tool extends these nominal values forward, incorporating inflation and impatience factors to model long-term behavior. In combination, this framework links local forest growth, regional markets, and future price expectations from Florida to Alaska and into British Columbia.
Where FVS defines biological growth and volume reconciliation, FRASS adds the financial dimension through Delivered Log Market Portfolios. Every FRASS analysis is anchored in the regional market where logs are bought and sold, ensuring valuation precision grounded in observed monthly prices. These markets are defined by many buyers and many sellers, creating transparent competition and defensible value data.
For each market area, FRASS maintains a monthly time series of delivered log prices by species and grade, expressed in both U.S. Dollars (USD) and Canadian Dollars (CAD). The Real Price Appreciation (RPA) Forecast Tool extends these nominal values into future projections by applying inflation and impatience factors to model long-term value behavior. Through this integration, FRASS connects physical growth with economic performance, transforming biometric data into optimized log merchandizing and financial forecasting from Florida to Alaska and into British Columbia.
In practice, this means that FRASS optimizes every tree’s merchantability using the biological potential defined by FVS geometry and the economic opportunity defined by RPA price cycles. The outcome is a regionally accurate, transparent, and reproducible system for forest valuation across North America.
How FRASS Turns Tree Data into Defensible Value
FRASS unifies biometric precision and market intelligence in a clear, auditable sequence. Every project follows the same three-step integration pipeline:
1. Growth and Geometry
- Use regional FVS variant as the growth engine for each stand.
- Apply Flex Taper logic to reconcile stem geometry with trusted cubic-foot volumes.
- Convert DOB to DIB with documented species-level bark equations.
2. Log Merchandizing by Local Rules
- Segment each stem into merchantable logs based on regional lengths and grade rules.
- Allocate volume strictly from recognized log rules and tables, not ad hoc geometry shortcuts.
- Align sort and grade outputs with the Delivered Log Market Portfolio for that property.
3. Real Price and Financial Optimization
- Apply monthly delivered log prices by species and grade (USD and CAD).
- Use the RPA Forecast Tool to translate nominal history into real, forward-looking values.
- Optimize timing, rotation, and merchandizing for transparent, defensible net return.
Together, these steps make FRASS a continent-scale system: grounded in federally supported growth science, disciplined by real delivered log markets, and refined through explicit Real Price Appreciation dynamics.