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• We solved a large and real world near city forestry problem.• The inclusion of maximum open area constraints caused 7.0% loss in NPV.• Solution value at maximum deviated 0.01% from the true optimum value.• The annual energy supply of 20-30 GWh estimated from harvest residues could provide a small, but stable supply of energy to the municipality. AbstractThe nature areas surrounding the capital of Norway (Oslomarka), comprising 1 700 km 2 of forest land, are the recreational home turf for a population of 1.2 mill. people. These areas are highly valuable, not only for recreational purposes and biodiversity, but also for commercial activities.To assess the impacts of the challenges that Oslo municipality forest face in their management, we developed four optimization problems with different levels of management constraints. The constraints consider control of harvest level, guarantee of minimum old-growth forest area and maximum open area after final harvest. For the latter, to date, no appropriate analyses quantifying the impact of such a constraint on economy and biomass production have been carried out in Norway. The problem solved is large due to both the number of stands and number of treatment schedules. However, the model applied demonstrated its relevance for solving large problems involving maximum opening areas. The inclusion of maximum open area constraints caused 7.0% loss in NPV compared to the business as usual case with controlled harvest volume and minimum old-growth area. The estimated supply of 20-30 GWh annual energy from harvest residues could provide a small, but stable supply of energy to the municipality.

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