Its primary usefulness was for the heavily timbered forests in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeastern United States.
[3] Another criticism is that it includes nonuse values, such as protecting watersheds, preserving endangered species, and improving aesthetics, only as constraints on production rather than as goals.
It is also limited by its requirements for massive amounts of data on ecological interactions and for market prices for all resource uses and outputs.
[4] It was praised by the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment for its enormous analytical capacity, its focus on important issues, and its common language for analysts.
[5] The Australian PREPLAN, or Pristine Environment Planning Language and Simulator, was derived partly from FORPLAN.