4/10/2017 1 National forest inventory and monitoring in the USA Thomas J. Brandeis, PhD. USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis With material contributed by William Burkman (SRS FIA), Brad Smith (FIA WO), Greg Reams (FIA WO), Renate Bush (Region 1 RO), Grant Domke (FIA NRS) Andrew Lister (FIA NRS) and Consuelo Brandeis (SRS FIA) Presentation objectives • Provide a description of the US national Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program • What data does FIA collect? • Core FIA • Timber Product Output (TPO) • Show how FIA delivers its data to its users • Give some examples of how FIA data are used by stakeholders
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National forest inventory and monitoring in the USA
Thomas J. Brandeis, PhD.
USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis
With material contributed by William Burkman (SRS FIA), Brad Smith (FIA WO), Greg Reams (FIA WO), Renate Bush (Region 1 RO), Grant Domke (FIA NRS) Andrew Lister (FIA NRS) and Consuelo Brandeis (SRS FIA)
Presentation objectives
• Provide a description of the US national Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program
• What data does FIA collect?• Core FIA
• Timber Product Output (TPO)
• Show how FIA delivers its data to its users
• Give some examples of how FIA data are used by stakeholders
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The FIA program’s mission‐ Since 1928
• “make and keep current a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the present and prospective conditions and requirements of the renewable resources of the forest and rangelands of the United States”
1928 McSweeney/McNary
Act1978 Research Act
1998 Agricultural Act, or “Farm Bill”
• An integrated inventory and monitoring program capable of providing scientifically reliable indicators of sustainable forestry
The FIA program’s mission
• The FIA program collects strategic (state or multi‐county level) data on the:
• Status,
• Trends, and
• Resource conditions, including forest health for all forest lands in a consistent fashion across the US
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• Comprehensive forest inventory for each of the 50 States, Puerto Rico, and Trust Territories
• Annualized system operating in every State, every year
• Every 5‐10 years in the islands
• Over 250 State and Island reports since 1928
• 9 National Assessments since 1953
The FIA program’s scope
FIA zones of responsibilities
SRS has responsibility for PR and USVI
PNW has responsibility for Pacific Island Territories
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FIA sample design
The systematic grid design allows flexible analysis using spatial layer overlays of the
client’s choice to summarize data.
Local Cells
Country Cell
Global Cell
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
5 panels The hex cell grid allows equal spacing of
samples regardless of latitude.
State Grid
National permanent plot network
• Permanent plots to measure forest characteristics
• Systematic sample across the US• One plot every ~6,000 acres (2,400 ha)
• ~90,000 ground plots• ~36,000 forested plots
• ~54,000 non‐forest plots
• Continuous inventory• 5‐10 year cycles/panels
• 1/5th to 1/10th of the plots done every year
Total area 0.4 haTotal area of subplots 0.07 ha
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Measurements taken on all FIA plots
• Area descriptions• Location (coordinates and political descriptions)
• Physiographic class• Slope, elevation
• Plot descriptions• Canopy cover• Land use• Forest type• Ownership• Stand age, structure and size class• Disturbances and treatments
Measurements taken on all FIA plots
• Tree measurements ‐all d.b.h. ≥ 5” live and standing dead counted and tracked
• Species• d.b.h. and height• Crown class and ratio• Pests, disease, damages• Defects, cull and tree grade
• Seedlings and saplings (microplot)• 1.0‐4.9” identified and measured• Seedlings ≥ 12” tall identified and tallied• Additional regeneration protocols available
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Forest health indicators
• Additional data collected on a subset of the plots
• In additional to tabular data, FIA data are available spatially
• FIA produces maps of the forest resources of the US
• Clients can produce their own maps using FIA data
Forest OwnershipBiomass
Carbon
Wood Use & Timber Production
FIA’s data users‐ Industry
• FIA data used by forest products industry for making capital investment decisions
• $445 billion invested by industry in the US since 1965
• Investment in the FIA program has been around $1 billion
• Management decisions and placement of new facilities• Guiding investment in the growing bioenergy sector
• Financial fund managers use FIA to evaluate natural resource investments
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FIA’s data users‐ State
National Association of State Foresters‐ “FIA is essential to land managers in order to make sound ecological, economic, and social decisions about the current and future state of the nation's forests.”• Forest management and policy making
• Texas A&M Forest Service• Oregon Department of Natural Resources
• Economic planning• Alabama Forestry Commission • New York Department of Environmental Conservation
• Forest health monitoring• Colorado Forest Service • State of California• Georgia Forestry Commission
Department of Environmental Conservation
FIA’s data users ‐ National Forest System
• FIA data used to monitor National Forest plans, guidelines and movement toward desired conditions
• For example, FIA data used to assess whether old growth characteristics targets are met
• Helps resource specialists and the public understand the current distribution of this habitat across the Forests
• Helps to target areas for management activities
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FIA’s data users‐ National
• Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA)
• Congress directs USDA to produce a Renewable Resources Assessment every 10 years
• FIA provides assessment updates every 5 years, as required by the Farm Bill and produces Forest Resources of the US report
• National Report on Sustainable Forests• Ties‐in with international reporting requirements
FIA’s data users‐ International
• US Forest Sustainability Reporting based on FIA data• Montréal Process ‐ Criteria & Indicators for Forest Sustainability
• United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Forest Resource Assessments (FRA)
• FIA data are the principal source for FRA reporting
• FAO North American Forestry Commission (USA, Canada, Mexico)
• Inventory and Monitoring Working Group – partnership to harmonize NFIs and databases
• Access information across national boundaries without relinquishing data sovereignty
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Thank you for your interest
Web links, FIA program information
• National FIA Program: http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/• FIA Annual Business Reports http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/bus‐org‐documents/index.php
• National program library http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/index.php
• Review available database documents:
o FIA Database: Database Description and Users Manual Version 6.0.2 for Phase 2 ‐http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/database‐documentation/current/ver60/FIADB%20User%20Guide%20P2_6‐0‐2_final‐opt.pdf
o The FIA Database: Database Description and Users Manual Version 6.0.1 for Phase 3 ‐http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/database‐documentation/current/ver60/FIADB%20User%20Guide%20P3_6‐0‐1_final.pdf
• Review field guides ‐ http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/field‐guides‐methods‐proc/index.php
• On‐line data query tool tutorials ‐ http://fia.fs.fed.us/tools‐data/tutorials_training/default.asp
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Web links, FIA data tools
• FIA Data Tools• FIDO – On‐line query tool http://apps.fs.fed.us/fia/fido/index.html• EVALIDator – On‐line query tool http://apps.fs.fed.us/Evalidator/evalidator.jsp• FIA DataMart – Download data files http://apps.fs.fed.us/fiadb‐downloads/datamart.html