Advancing forest inventory science for enhanced insights into tomorrow’s forests
| Authors: | Sean MP. Cahoon, KaDonna Randolph, George C. Gaines, Susan Crocker, Valerie Thomas, Holly Munro |
| Year: | 2026 |
| Type: | Scientific Journal |
| Station: | Pacific Northwest Research Station |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.123405 |
| Source: | Forest Ecology and Management |
Abstract
Forest inventory and monitoring is critically important to the long-term success of forest ecosystems, particularly given increasing levels of disturbance from wildfire, insects, disease, and human activity. Since its inception under the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of 1928, and following revisions in the 1998 Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act and 2014 Agricultural Act (“Farm Bills”), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has conducted continuous monitoring of the Nation’s forest resources, growing to become an essential and trusted source of information by land managers, international researchers, policymakers, and various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide. The FIA program is comprised of four broad focus areas. The Nationwide Forest Inventory (NFI) is a network of plots installed across all land ownerships and remeasured every 5–10 years, consisting of detailed information about tree status, damages, down woody material, and understory vegetation. The National Resource Use Monitoring (NRUM) quantifies harvested wood products manufacturing across various facilities nationwide. The National Woodland Owners Survey (NWOS) aims to better understand how private landowners plan and utilize forest resources over time. Finally, the Urban Inventory provides information on how green spaces are used in urban settings. Together, each component of FIA collects and analyzes forest resource data on an annualized schedule to deliver the congressionally mandated goal to “inventory and analyze, in a timely manner, public and private forests and their resources in the United States” (16 U.S.C. §1642(e)(1)).