To investigate the effects of a policy, researchers do dozens of runs, each time varying conditions or assumptions slightly, to figure out what the outcome means. As a result the project collaborators must constantly add new data and update the models. Collaborators provide the data concerning the resource base, with information about forest inventories, and the models of tree growth and of the industries that use forest products. At OSU, Adams maintains the structure that integrates resource and market segments, as well as the resource and solid wood industry models. The Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, maintains the pulp and paper model.
Data come from researchers across the country.
At the Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Peter Ince developed the pulp and paper model and Henry Spelter contributed the model of solid wood demand. Timber inventory data come from Forest Service research units around the country. Models of the Canadian timber industry and data for their implementation are developed through regular consultation with researchers on the Canadian Forest Service's Industry, Economics and Program Branch. Early in the project, the choice of machine to run the model on was a problem, because of the complexity and the number of languages represented. Although modern personal computers are now sophisticated enough to handle the model, the choice of operating platform is a continuing problem.