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Forest Inventory and Analysis

 

Mission
National Scope and Prominence
Collaboration Efforts for the Research Program
Southern Research Station FIA Goal
Value of the Research
State Partner Inventory Contacts
FIA Primary Contacts

 

 

Mission

To conduct a program of research to improve the understanding of Southern Forest ecosystems through inventories and analyses of the status and trends in resource conditions, use, productivity, and sustainability; and to conduct research to provide improved technology for timely and accurate resource inventories.

 

National Scope and Prominence

Systematic periodic forest inventories in the nation began after the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act was passed in 1928. This law is the basis of national forest inventories in the U.S. The Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program is an integral part of the national inventory. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 replaced earlier legislation. This Act was amended by: Agriculture Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (Farm Bill). It authorized a national continuous, comprehensive survey and analysis of all renewable forest resources. We are a component of this national survey and analysis.

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) continues to provide the only national source of comprehensive strategic inventory information on the extent, condition, and use of all forested lands in the Nation. Data and analysis from our staff is the basis for all national inventory data bases.

Collaboration Efforts for the Research Program

Timely inventory information for land managers about Southern forest ecosystems is a high priority. Because of the importance that the wood-using industries play in shaping the economic future of the Southern States, it is imperative that the status and trends of these forest resources be assessed in a timely manner to assure sustainability.  This need led to a collaborative effort that has become known as the Southern Annual Forest Inventory System (SAFIS).  SAFIS is a partnership of the USDA Forest Service (the Southern Research Station and Region 8), Southern State foresters, industry, universities, and others.  The FIA Program is focusing on developing the annual inventory system for the South; State foresters have contributed substantial human and financial resources to developing and implementing annual inventories.  The FIA Program is the only entity that conducts comprehensive forest resource inventories on both public and private lands in the Southern United Sates.

Southern Research Station FIA Goal

In responding to the Southern Group of State Foresters agreement in 1996 and 1997, Southern Governors Resolutions of 1996 and 1998, the Farm Bill of 1998, and the Blue Ribbon Panel Reports of 1993 and 1998, our goal is to fully implement a Southwide annual inventory system by collaborating with Southern State Foresters. To meet this goal we are:

Developing new techniques to reduce costs, improve accuracy, and timelines

Developing new techniques to assess all important values on all forest land

Developing better methodologies for field measurements and data analysis

Improving our ability to display and summarize spatial characteristics of forest resources

Value of the Research

Regardless of the natural resource issue, managers and decision-makers will always need accurate and timely assessments of the resources involved. These assessments must use credible and cost-efficient survey techniques, predict future conditions, monitor actual trends or changes, and distribute data into political, economic, and ecological systems. Measurement of forest resources has always been important to our customers and has often stimulated new avenues of research. Inventory information has been the source of feedback on policy, management, and changes in forest health across ownerships. Inventory results have been useful for economic development and forest planning decisions as well as analyses of timber supply, biodiversity, and risk both at landscape and regional levels. Today, decision-makers are demanding up-to-date assessments of forest health and use that go beyond the periodic inventories of the past, so they can respond to rapidly escalating changes in southern landscapes and populations. Other customers for these assessments include State foresters, forest industry, forestry consultants, conservation groups, national forests, and universities. With our 70-year history of increasingly comprehensive inventories, the Southern Research Station offers experienced personnel, tested methods, and detailed data bases.

State Partner Inventory Contacts
Alabama—Steve Lloyd
E-mail: lloyds@forestry.state.al.us
Phone: 334-240-9370 Fax: 334-240-9390

Arkansas—Alberto Moreno
E-mail: alberto.moreno@mail.state.ar.us
Phone: 501-296-1864 Fax: 501-296-1949

Florida—Eric Ford
E-mail: forde@doacs.state.fl.us
Phone: 850-414-9955 Fax: 850-921-6724

Georgia—Larry W. Thompson
E-mail: lthompsn@gfc.state.ga.us
Phone: 912-751-3489 Fax: 912-751-3465

Kentucky—Tim Sheehan
E-mail: tim.sheehan@mail.state.ky.us
Phone: 502-564-4496 Fax: 502-564-6553

Louisiana—Carlton Cobb
E-mail: ccobb@ldaf.state.la.us
Phone: 318-487-5982 Fax: 318-487-5988

Mississippi—Randal Romedy
E-mail: rromedy@mfc.state.ms.us
Phone: 601-359-2823 Fax: 601-359-1349

 North Carolina—David Brown
E-mail: David.R.Brown@ncmail.net
Phone: 919-733-2162 x244 Fax: 919-715-5247

Oklahoma—Kurt Atkinson
E-mail: kurt@odagis.oklaosf.state.ok.us
Phone: 405-521-3864 Fax: 405-522-4583

Puerto Rico—Peter Weaver
E-mail: pweaver@fs.fed.us
Phone: 787-766-5335 Fax: 787-766-6263

South Carolina—Byron Rominger
E-mail: byronr@usit.net
Phone: 803-896-8804 Fax: 803-798-8097

Tennessee—John Mullins
E-mail: jmullins@mail.state.tn.us
Phone: 865-693-6695 Fax: (same as phone)

Texas—Weihuan Xu
E-mail: whx@tfs.tamu.edu
Phone: 979-458-6659 Fax: 979-458-6655

Virginia—John Pemberton
E-mail: jp@crosslink.net
Phone: 804-448-3095 Fax: (same as phone)

 

FIA Primary Contacts

Data Acquisition—Dr. Frank Roesch
E-mail: froesch@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-257-4871
Inventory techniques, standards, protocols
Training, certification, QA/QC
Area estimation

Resource Use—Tony Johnson
E-mail: tjohnson09@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-257-4836

 Resource use analysis; QA/QC
 Pulpwood reports
 Timber product output

Computer Systems Management—David J. Polak
E-mail: dpolak@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-257-4363

Relational database management
Systems development & management; QA/QC
Communication technology

Information Management—Dr. Clark Baldwin
E-mail: vbaldwin@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-259-0586

Data compilation system; QA/QC
Internet retrieval of data
Spatial display of data & information

Data Processing—Joe Glover
E-mail: jglover@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-257-4369

Data editing; QA/QC
Data formating
Data display and analysis
Analysis and Reporting—Raymond Sheffield
E-mail: rsheffield@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-257-4358
Timely reporting of results; QA/QC
Analysis with State partners
Assessments/sustainability

Methods and Techniques—Dr. Greg Reams
E-mail: greams@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-257-4367

Procedures and techniques; QA/QC
Modeling and remote sensing
Collaborative research

Forest Health Monitoring—Bill Burkman
E-mail: bburkman@fs.fed.us
Phone: 828-259-0522

Operational monitoring technology
Forest health assessment techniques
QA/QC

Administration and Services—Darlene Stefani
Site Manager, Starkville, MS & Asheville, NC
E-mail: dstefani@fs.fed.us
Phone: 662-338-3112

Strategic planning and budget
Purchasing/contracting/cooperative agreements