Mississippi State University Launches FORVAL-XL to Streamline Complex Economic Analysis for Global Timber Land Management

Mississippi State University updates its FORVAL software to an Excel-based version, offering advanced cash-flow and sensitivity analysis for forest managers.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 11, 2026, 6:51 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from EurekAlert!

Modernizing a Decades-Old Forestry Standard

The evolution of the Forest Valuation and Investment Analysis software, originally established in 1999, represents a significant step in digitizing natural resource management. Developed by the Forest and Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University, the tool was initially designed to help foresters navigate the intricate financial variables of long-term land use. Steve Bullard, the CFR associate dean who helped pioneer the original program, led the transition to the Excel-based version to ensure that the software remains compatible with modern professional workflows while retaining its core analytical power.

Enhanced Functionality for Strategic Land Investment

The transition to FORVAL-XL introduces a suite of features designed to quantify varied costs and revenues that occur over extended periods. According to Steve Bullard, the update maintains the capability for complex calculations but adds critical new functions such as automated sensitivity analyses and discounted cash-flow results. These upgrades allow users to generate easy-to-read tables and graphs, which are essential for making informed decisions regarding forest health and financial viability. The software also includes a streamlined export function, allowing the final economic reports to be shared as PDF documents.

A Collaborative Effort in Data Science and Economics

The development of the updated code was a cross-disciplinary effort involving Jagadish Dosapati, a data science graduate student, alongside seasoned experts from multiple institutions. Thomas Straka of Clemson University and Robert Grala of Mississippi State provided the economic and academic framework necessary to ensure the software's rigor. This collaboration allowed the team to refine the software’s technical architecture, ensuring it could handle the data processing requirements of both small private holdings and expansive commercial timber operations.