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 1
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 Act 1978 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 2
The FIA program s scope 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 FIA zones of responsibilities PNW has responsibility for Pacific Island Territories SRS has responsibility for PR and USVI 3
FIA sample design Country Cell Global Cell Local Cells The systematic grid design allows flexible analysis using spatial layer overlays of the client s choice to summarize data. 5 panels The hex cell grid allows equal spacing of samples regardless of latitude. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 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 1/5 th to 1/10 th of the plots done every year Total area 0.4 ha Total area of subplots 0.07 ha 4
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 5
Forest health indicators Additional data collected on a subset of the plots Soils Down woody material Crown condition and health Understory vegetation Lichen diversity ~5,600 plots ~2,200 forested plots ~3,400 non forest plots Generating estimates Forest and timberland area Tree species composition Volume, biomass, carbon Growth, removals and mortality Forest health indicators Plot data Forest area estimate Volume (cubic feet) * Expansion factor = Reported estimate 6
Timber Product Output (TPO) Surveys mill production using canvass sheets sent to the mills Primary products produced Wood volume consumed by county of origin and species Residue utilization Pulpmills canvassed every year Sawmills and all other mills canvassed every 2 years Stave mill production in Kentucky, 2011 2013 White oak consumed 2011 2013 All mills (thousand cubic feet) 22,273 26,186 % sourced in KY 94% 87% Number of KY stave mills 5 8 Stave mills (thousand cubic feet) 1,923 5,735 % sourced in KY 96% 66% % of total volume in staves 9% 22% 7
Harvest and utilization studies Studies conducted yearly on active logging site Sampling by product type to develop: Over and Under utilization factors for estimates of growing stock and non growing stock logging residue Also collect information on: Harvest area data (tract size, forest type, physiographic class, stand origin, etc.) Logging equipment Logger demographics Data delivery On line tools facilitate access Users run over 100,000 database queries per year Users can request assistance from FIA Fulfill over 600 special requests per year Congressionally mandated reports Full reports every 5 years Annual resource updates On line information, spreadsheets and standard tables 8
The Georgia Forest Commission wants to know On their timberland (forest available for harvest), How has the acreage of natural and planted pines changed over time? Data available from 1972 to 2014 On line query tools Evalidator http://apps.fs.fed.us/evalidator/evalidator.jsp 9
Timberland area of natural and planted stands in Georgia, 1972 to 2014 10 Timberland (million acres) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Natural stands Planted 0 1972 1982 1989 1997 2004 2009 2014 Inventory year Hardwood and softwood volume trends Net volume (million cubic feet) 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Hardwoods Softwoods 1972 1982 1989 1999 2004 2009 2014 Inventory year 10
Forest carbon pools Aboveground live trees Belowground live trees Above and belowground standing dead trees Aboveground live seedlings and shrubs Belowground live seedlings and shrubs Coarse roots, down woody material and stumps Forest floor litter Soil organic material 51.2% 3.6% 5.0% 30.5% 6.4% 1.4% 1.7% 0.2% Growth, removals and mortality Volume (million cubic feet) 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 Softwood net growth Hardwood net growth Softwood removals Hardwood removals Softwood mortality Hardwood mortality 2004 2009 2014 Inventory year 11
Data delivery Spatial data 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 Wood Use & Timber Production Biomass Carbon Forest Ownership 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 12
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 13
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 14
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/databasedocumentation/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/databasedocumentation/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 15
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/fiadbdownloads/datamart.html Timber Products Output http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/programfeatures/tpo/ TPO Reporting Tool http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/php/tpo_2009/tpo_rpa_int1.php National Woodland Owners Survey http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos/ NWOS table maker http://apps.fs.fed.us/fia/nwos/tablemaker.jsp Spatial data services http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/sds/index.shtml Web links, FIA national and intl. reporting National RPA Reporting: http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/programfeatures/rpa/index.php National Report on Sustainable Forests: http://www.fs.fed.us/research/sustain/ UN FAO Forest Resource Assessments: http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/4a446430 0b06 4d1eb0ae 101d210787c4/ Forest Sustainability Reporting: http://www.fs.fed.us/research/sustain/ North American Forestry Commission (USA., Canada, Mexico): http://www.fs.fed.us/global/nafc/ 16