Picture perfect: Inventory snapshots provide valuable forest data at a glance

Paul Meznarich; Christopher Witt; Erin Berryman; Ted Ridley; Christopher M. Oswalt

Treesearch

Picture perfect: Inventory snapshots provide valuable forest data at a glance

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Paul Meznarich, Christopher Witt, Erin Berryman, Ted Ridley, Christopher M. Oswalt

Year:

2026

Type:

Science Bulletins and Newsletters

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Science You Can Use Tool, April 2026. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Download (PDF 1.01 MB)

Download (PDF 1.01 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/80471.pdf

Abstract

For nearly 100 years, the Forest Service has inventoried America’s forest resources to provide a scorecard of forest health, vitality, and sustainability. Born out of the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of 1928, the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program is nationally coordinated by regional experts and now consists of more than 355,000 survey plots across public and private land.

Keywords

Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, data collection

Citation

Meznarich, Paul; Witt, Christopher; Berryman, Erin; Ridley, Ted; Oswalt, Chris. 2026. Picture perfect: Inventory snapshots provide valuable forest data at a glance. Science You Can Use Tool, April 2026. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2 p.