What does the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program do? 

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) 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. FIA 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. 

FIA completes data collection and analysis work within four main inventories: 

• The Nationwide Forest Inventory (NFI): a national network of permanent plots that are remeasured every 5-10 years depending on location. Land use information is collected on all plots, with additional site and tree (live and standing dead) data collected on plot areas having forest land use present. Additionally, information about down woody material, soils and understory vegetation is collected on a subset of plots.
• The National Resource Use Monitoring (NRUM): a survey which collects information on manufacturers that use harvested wood products for reporting on size of facilities, products that are manufactured, manufacturing capacity, and other data points.
• The National Woodland Owners Survey (NWOS): a survey that collects information on private forest landowners to understand why they own the land, what they use it for, and how they are planning on managing their land over time.
• Urban Inventory: an inventory 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. 

FIA also works with experts from universities and trusted partners to expand research capacity, analytical capabilities, and continually develop and enhance our inventory and monitoring techniques within these inventories. 

Program Deliverables 

Information and trends are important indicators of the conservation and sustainable management of United States forests, and these trends provide policymakers, partners, and other users a variety of data that inform their 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, but are not limited to: 

• Developing summaries and reports detailing forest health and productivity every five years.
• Providing current and historical data across political and administrative boundaries and land ownerships, including urban forests.
• Developing data sets and analytical products that include a wide array of forest ecosystem parameters addressing the extent, productivity, health, ownership, and utilization of United States forests. 

FIA seeks to address emerging user needs by conducting development research in additional to its operational surveys. Current research focuses on seven strategic areas that were identified in previous legislation and the 2015 FIA Strategic Plan. Three of these research portfolios have successfully been operationalized and are each described above (NRUM, NWOS, and Urban). The other four research portfolios include: 

• Volume, biomass, and carbon: This priority area 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 FIA inventories and auxiliary information to characterize the demographic drivers of change in forest ecosystems and the goods and services forests provides, and
  3. developing estimation and accounting compilation systems, data, and tools to inform forest management, mitigation, and adaptation activities.
• Digital Engagement: The mission of the digital engagement portfolio is to transform FIA's analysis, reporting, and delivery of information. This work is made possible through collaboration with agency and external partners to develop and publish relevant and authoritative data that supports user needs. To see examples of FIA's digital engagement work in action, visit the FIA Geospatial Showcase or learn about the BIGMAP project.
• Land Use and Land Cover (LULC): This portfolio addresses the need for FIA to understand and report changes in land use and land cover. FIA continuously monitors the largest set of ground based LULC observations in the world, thanks to the NFI plot network. FIA analysis of LULC focuses on three goals:
  1. leverage FIA's unique dataset to lead national LULC monitoring,
  2. create a forum for FIA LULC experts to coordinate research within and outside of the program; and
  3. communicate new LULC research to FIA's customers. Visit the FIA Land Resources Explorer to view information on land use, land cover, and change in an interactive map.
• Small Area Estimation (SAE): The purpose of the small area estimation research portfolio is to modernize FIA's methods for estimation of forest characteristics within small geographic areas (generally smaller than a state or county) and short time intervals (less than 5 years). Current research is anticipated to lead to operational techniques and tools that will produce the following products:
  1. a nationwide, experimental series of annual, county level forest area and biomass estimates by 2025, and
  2. area and biomass change by 2027. 

National Program Coordination

The FIA Program is implemented across four units located at USDA Forest Service Research Stations: The Northern Research Station, the Pacific Northwest Research Station, the Rocky Mountain Research Station, and the Southern Research Station. National teams of FIA specialists work together to ensure consistency and efficiency in data collection, management, and analysis. They review and implement modifications, additions, or deletions to any component of the National FIA Program. These teams cross four functional areas, known as Bands: 

• Data Acquisition Band: Focuses on standardization of FIA’s core field data collection across the US. This includes testing new protocols, developing documentation and training programs, and conducting quality assurance.
• Information Management Band: Focuses on data management systems for FIA data, including systems for data collection, data editing and validation, internal and public databases, and web applications that allow all users to access and analyze FIA data.
• Analysis Band: Focuses on reporting and providing statistically defensible methods for summarizing FIA data, including identification of new variables (either field measured or computed) needed by FIA customers.
• Techniques Research Band: Focuses on improving the efficiency, timeliness, and quality of the FIA program through research that assesses and integrates new technologies and methodologies into current FIA workflows. The band addresses problem areas outlined in the FIA strategic plan or identified by Congress, FIA Program Managers for each unit, or National FIA leadership. 

The FIA 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 (RPA, PL 93-378) amended the earlier research act. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (PL 95-307) replaced earlier Forestry Research legislation but repeated the amendment contained in the RPA 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 (PL 94-588) directed the USDA 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 U.S. associated islands of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. Additionally, FIA was directed to implement urban forest inventories, improve sub-state estimation precision, and improve the timber product output program among other provisions. In collaboration with partners, FIA developed strategic plans to fully transition into an annualized inventory and comply with other requirements.