Regardless of the mixture of land management objectives, quantification of the type of stands that will meet these objectives, target stands, is needed. Quantification of target stands is essential as the starting point for the diagnosis of treatment needs and to achieve consistency over time in the interpretation of a given management direction.

To facilitate quantification of target stands a U.S. Forest Service Regional form has been developed. This form provides one format for identifying various essential attributes.

For many resource objectives the desired conditions include the aggregate conditions of a number of stands in a given area over time. A Data General computer program has been developed to assist with thee summarization and graphic representation of many stands projected over time by the Stand Prognosis Model. The summary and representation can be linked to key attributes that are descriptive of the target stands or to area conditions.