Understory

Since its inception in 1928 with the passage of the McSweeney/McNary Act, the Forest Inventory and Analysis program has continuously evolved and adapted to meet the growing needs of citizens and policy makers. After an initial focus on harvestable timberlands, the program eventually evolved to include all forestlands. As scientific knowledge grew, it became increasingly evident that research of the impacts and benefits of urban trees was needed, and the FIA program was poised for further enhancement. The 2014 Farm Bill asked FIA to explore options to expand the inventory grid into urban areas....

Biochar production is an alternative method for reducing forest slash and is a viable climate change mitigation strategy. Reducing forest slash through biochar production alleviates many of the air quality and soil health issues that may result from traditional fuel reduction methods. To mitigate climate change effects on drought, wildfire, and other processes, biochar is one tool that can be used across many types of sites to store carbon in the soil immediately.

Reducing PODs (potential operational delineations) to a network of suppression-focused fuel breaks may dilute the intent and diminish the richness of the framework. Using PODs and fuel breaks to perpetuate fire exclusion is not likely to be effective and may set us up for failure. In many forest types, we may need to rethink design of fuel breaks along POD boundaries to support expansion of proactive use of fire.

Learn more about the Forest Product Laboratory's Wood Identification Public Service.

Announcing a Rooted in Research webinar series for October and November 2023.