What does the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program do? 

Forest Inventory and Analysis is a congressionally mandated program that delivers current, consistent, and credible information about the status of forests and forest resources within the United States by continually collecting and analyzing data about these forests and the values they provide. The program works to: 

• Collect annualized data relating to forest resources, health, and ownership.
• Collect and analyze a consistent core set of ecological data on all forests to view trends over time.
• Utilize new and emerging technologies to acquire data through remote sensing and field activities. 

The program completes data collection and analysis work within four main inventories: 

• The Nationwide Forest Inventory is a national network of permanent plots remeasured every five to ten years depending on location. Program staff collect land use information on all plots as well as additional site and tree data—both for living and standing dead trees—on plots with forest land use present. Staff also collect data about down woody material, soils, and understory vegetation on a subset of plots.
• National Resource Use Monitoring is a survey on manufacturers who use harvested wood products that reports size of facilities, products manufactured, manufacturing capacity, and other data points.
• The National Woodland Owner Survey asks private forest landowners why they own the land, what they use it for, and how they are planning on managing their land over time.
• Urban Inventory is a program that monitors the Nation’s urban forests, examines social dimensions of urban forests and green spaces, and estimates the industrial and nonindustrial uses of urban wood. 

Forest Inventory and Analysis staff also work with experts from universities and trusted partners to expand research capacity, enhance analytical capabilities, and improve inventory and monitoring techniques. 

Program Deliverables 

Information and trends are important indicators of the conservation and sustainable management of United States forests, and these trends give policymakers, partners, and other users data that inform land management decisions over time. Our users can rely on the credibility of our information to make critical land management, policy, and investment decisions. Data outputs include: 

• Summaries and reports detailing forest health and productivity produced every five years,
• Current and historical data across political and administrative boundaries and land ownerships, including urban forests, and
• Data sets and analytical products that cover forest ecosystem parameters addressing the extent, productivity, health, ownership, and use of United States forests. 

Research Priority Areas

Program staff seek to address emerging user needs by conducting developmental research in addition to performing operational surveys. Current research focuses on seven strategic areas identified in previous legislation and the 2015 Forest Inventory and Analysis Strategic Plan. Staff have successfully moved out on three of these research portfolios described above. The other four research portfolios are: 

• Volume, biomass, and carbon: This portfolio aims to advance the science, monitoring, and reporting of timber volume, forest biomass, and ecosystem carbon in the United States. Research encompasses:
  1. advancing methods and models to support forest resource assessment and harvested wood products analysis,
  2. leveraging program inventories and other information to characterize drivers of change in forest ecosystems and the goods and services forests provide, and
  3. developing estimation and accounting compilation systems, data, and tools to inform forest management and mitigation and adaptation activities.
• Digital Engagement: This portfolio aims to transform how the program analyzes, reports, and delivers information. With agency and external partners, digital engagement staff develop and publish data supporting user needs. To see examples of digital engagement work in action, visit the Geospatial Showcase or learn about the BIGMAP project.
• Land Cover and Land Use Change: This portfolio addresses how we understand and report changes in land use and land cover. Program staff monitor the largest set of ground-based land use and land cover observations in the world, thanks to the program's plot network. Analysis of land use and land cover focuses on three goals:
  1. leverage the program's unique dataset to lead national monitoring,
  2. create a forum for experts to coordinate research within and outside of the program, and
  3. communicate new research to customers. Visit the Land Resources Explorer to view information on land use, land cover, and change in an interactive map.
• Small Area Estimation: This portfolio aims to modernize methods for estimating forest characteristics within areas smaller than states or counties and at time intervals less than five years. Current research may help us produce a nationwide series of annual, county level forest area and biomass estimates as well as estimates of area and biomass change.

National Program Coordination

The Forest Inventory and Analysis staff work across the Nation. Teams of specialists ensure consistency and efficiency in data collection, management, and analysis. They review and implement modifications, additions, or deletions to any component of the program. These teams cross four functional areas, known as bands.

• The data acquisition band standardizes core field data collection across the United States. Staff test new protocols, develop documentation and training programs, and conduct quality assurance.
• The information management band manages data systems, including systems for data collection, data editing and validation, internal and public databases, and publicly accessible web applications 
• The analysis band reports and provides statistically defensible methods for summarizing data, including identification of new variables needed by customers.
• The techniques research band improves program efficiency, timeliness, and quality through research that assesses and integrates new technologies and methodologies into current workflows. Staff also address problem areas outlined in the program strategic plan or identified by Congress, program managers, or national leaders

The Forest Inventory and Analysis program concept is over 120 years old. The Organic Act of 1897, which established the National Forest System, included provisions for inventory and management of those lands. In 1928, the Forestry Research Act (McSweeney-McNary) directed the Secretary of Agriculture to make and keep current a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the Nation’s forest resources. The Resources Planning Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-378) amended the earlier research act. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-307) replaced earlier forestry research legislation but repeated the amendment contained in the Resources Planning Act and further instructed the Secretary of Agriculture to:

 “...obtain, analyze, develop, demonstrate, and disseminate scientific information about protecting, managing, and utilizing forest and rangeland renewable resources in rural, suburban, and urban areas” 

The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-588) directed the Forest Service to:

 “ensure research on and (based upon continuous monitoring and assessment in the field) evaluation of the effects of each management system…” 

More recently, in 1999 (Farm Bill, Public Law 105-185) and again in 2014 (Farm Bill, Public Law 113-79), Congress directed the Forest Service to reevaluate its statewide inventory mission and to transition to survey each State annually rather than periodically, with the exception of Interior Alaska and United States associated islands of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. Additionally, Congress directed Forest Inventory and Analysis to inventory urban forests, improve sub-state estimation precision, and improve the timber product output program. With partners, Forest Inventory and Analysis developed strategic plans to transition to an annualized inventory and comply with other requirements.