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Criteria and Indicators
state of the process
Criterion 2
presented by
W. Brad Smith
Associate National Program Manager, FIA
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Identifying Research Needs
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
FIA, the keystone of
Criterion 2, has reported
on U.S. forests from local to global
Local
Global
Sub-State region
Main information flow
Feedback loop
State
International
multi-sector
Forest InventoryNational
and Analysis
multi-process
The Nation’s Forest Census
Regional/
National
National sector C&I
Make no mistake ….
Criterion 2 is about commodities,
timber and nontimber
However, looking holistically…
Indicators 1-4 in Criterion 1 cover area of all forest by type
and successional stage and indicators 7 and 9 cover species
abundance and change in forests
Indicator 26 in Criterion 5 covers biomass in forests by type
[and I would suggest some parallelism with Criterion 1]
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
In the 2003 National Report on Sustainable Forests for Criterion 2:
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Indicators
2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 31
What are we doing about Criterion 2 gaps?
Annualized forest inventory is progressing
Islands
Am. Samoa
Guam
Palau
Puerto Rico
Virgin Is.
NMI
FSM
RMI
Implementation in 1999
Implementation in 2005
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
And, coming soon to a website near you:

Annual estimates of area, growth, removals and
mortality for all forest land, current and historic

Annual estimates of volume and biomass on all
forest land

Annual updates on forest ownership study results

Annual validation data for spatial tools based on
remote sensing [15-20,000 plots per year]
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Indicator 14 Nontimber forest products
What are they, generally….






Food
Medicinals
Florals
Oils and resins
Cultural (arts and crafts)
Game and hides
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
FIA southern NTFP pilot study
Identify
 Markets
 Products
 Distribution
Then
 Test protocols and measures
 Estimate value
The study is ongoing
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Some reported data are still difficult to interpret
or lack trends
120
100
Million acres
80
West
60
40
South
20
North
0
1-19
20-39 40-59 60-79 80-99
100119
120139
140159
160199
200240
240279
280319
320399
400+
Stand-age Class (years)
Forest age class data, 2002
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Indicator 2
We need to explore surrogates for age-class like average stand diameter?
The optimal mix of forests of
different average size trees is
difficult to define and depends
greatly on management
objectives. Clearly, the effects
of human activity and natural
events paint different pictures
in different regions.
Source: Forest Resources of the United States, 2002
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Indicators 2 & 4
If we had known then….
FIA would have cataloged area by forest by type
and average diameter class (stand-size class)
jointly
FIA did it separately for 50 years and it is
difficult to recover from pre-digital data.
We have data from about 1980 on.
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Fusing field and remote sensing data will offer new
opportunities for displaying patterns like ownership
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Or harvesting
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Sometimes we pieced seemingly disparate data
together to derive meaningful trend information:
Regional forest trends in the 48 States, 1760-2000
400
Basis for chart data:
350
1940- pres.
FIA Field Inventory
Reports
1900 – 1930
Forest Service
report estimates
prior to FIA field
inventories.
1850 – 1890
Based on Bureau of
the Census land
clearing statistics.
1760 – 1840
Based on estimates
of forest clearing
proportional to
population growth.
300
Million acres
South
250
200
North
150
Interior West
100
Pacific Coast
50
-
Indicators 2 & 4
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
But many
questions
remain
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Like number of hardwood trees in the U.S. by major species, 1963-2002
Even when we have trends, what do they mean?
Indicator 9
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
(Only shows number of trees
5-inches dbh and larger)
Top 10 species by live volume in 2002
Common name
Genus
Species
Douglas-Fir
Loblolly Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Red Maple
Western Hemlock
Lodgepole Pine
White Oak
Sugar Maple
Yellow-Poplar
Northern Red Oak
Pseudotsuga
Pinus
Pinus
Acer
Tsuga
Pinus
Quercus
Acer
Liriodendron
Quercus
menziesii
taeda
ponderosa
rubrum
heterophylla
contorta
alba
saccharum
tulipifera
rubra
Volume in
cubic feet
Percent of
all volume
114,757,096,586
59,017,744,741
36,468,201,905
35,335,862,859
31,976,022,390
28,724,432,949
28,653,130,630
23,871,411,502
23,203,250,041
21,303,062,900
12.8%
6.6%
4.1%
3.9%
3.6%
3.2%
3.2%
2.7%
2.6%
2.4%
What’s best:
Is tree biodiversity
best measured by
volume or number
of trees?
Indicator 9
Top 10 species by number of trees [1" dbh and larger] in 2002
Top 10 species
in U.S. forests
Common name
Genus
Species
Red Maple
Loblolly Pine
Sweetgum
Douglas-Fir
Quaking Aspen
Sugar Maple
Balsam Fir
Flowering Dogwood
Lodgepole Pine
White Oak
Acer
Pinus
Liquidambar
Pseudotsuga
Populus
Acer
Abies
Cornus
Pinus
Quercus
rubrum
taeda
styraciflua
menziesii
tremuloides
saccharum
balsamea
florida
contorta
alba
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Number
of trees
21,834,748,401
19,133,975,069
13,153,930,093
9,962,056,987
9,065,591,863
8,993,035,576
8,918,466,178
8,608,168,855
7,078,252,791
5,412,297,254
Percent of
all trees
7.6%
6.6%
4.6%
3.5%
3.2%
3.1%
3.1%
3.0%
2.5%
1.9%
Is an indicator best measured in:
Indicator 13
25
20
15
< absolute terms
Removals
10
5
Mortality
0
1953 1963 1977 1987 1997 2002
-or - relative terms >
Percent of total live volume
Billion cubic feet
Growth
3.5
3.0
Growth
2.5
2.0
Removals
1.5
1.0
0.5
Mortality
0.0
1953 1963 1977 1987 1997 2002
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Does ownership matter?
As public policy
has shifted,
removals have
moved
dramatically
from public
land in the West
to private land
in the East in
the last 15
years.
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census
Indicator 13
And, the answer for your favorite indicator is…
?
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Nation’s Forest Census