Forest Inventory and Analysis | US Forest Service Research and Development

Forest Inventory and Analysis | US Forest Service Research and Development
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Forest Inventory and Analysis
For nearly 100 years, the FIA program has been recognized as a world leader in conducting national-scale forest inventories. FIA information is widely used to address local and regional issues related to trends in forest extent, health and productivity; land cover and land use change; and the changing demographics of private forest landowners.
Topics
Programs
Forest Inventory and Analysis
Nationwide Forest Inventory
National Resource Use Monitoring
National Woodland Owner Survey
Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis
Forest Definitions
Tree Volume, Biomass, and Carbon Models
Technology Transfer
Projects
Stations
Laboratories
Institutes
Centers and Groups
Experimental Forests and Ranges
Urban Field Stations
Forest Inventory and Analysis
The Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the USDA Forest Service Research and Development Branch collects, processes, analyzes, and reports on data necessary for assessing the extent and condition of forest resources in the United States.
Overview
Events and Alerts
Data and Tools
Work with Us
People
Resources
What does the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program do?
Forest Inventory and Analysis is a congressionally mandated program that delivers current, consistent, and credible information about the status of forests and forest resources within the United States by continually collecting and analyzing data about these forests and the values they provide. The program works to:
Collect annualized data relating to forest resources, health and ownership.
Collect and analyze a consistent core set of ecological data on all forests to view trends over time.
Utilize new and emerging technologies to acquire data through remote sensing and field activities.
The program completes data collection and analysis work within four main inventories:
The
Nationwide Forest Inventory
is a national network of permanent plots remeasured every five to ten years depending on location. Program staff collect land use information on all plots as well as additional site and tree data—both for living and standing dead trees—on plots with forest land use present. Staff also collect data about down woody material, soils, and understory vegetation on a subset of plots.
National Resource Use Monitoring
is a survey on manufacturers who use harvested wood products that reports size of facilities, products manufactured, manufacturing capacity, and other data points.
The
National Woodland Owners Survey
asks private forest landowners why they own the land, what they use it for, and how they are planning on managing their land over time.
Urban Inventory
is a program that monitors the Nation’s urban forests, examines social dimensions of urban forests and green spaces, and estimates the industrial and nonindustrial uses of urban wood.
Forest Inventory and Analysis staff also work with experts from universities and trusted partners to expand research capacity, enhance analytical capabilities, and improve inventory and monitoring techniques.
Program Deliverables
Information and trends are important indicators of the conservation and sustainable management of United States forests, and these trends give policymakers, partners, and other users data that inform land management decisions over time. Our users can rely on the credibility of our information to make critical land management, policy, and investment decisions. Data outputs include:
Summaries and reports detailing forest health and productivity produced every five years,
Current and historical data across political and administrative boundaries and land ownerships, including urban forests, and
Data sets and analytical products that cover forest ecosystem parameters addressing the extent, productivity, health, ownership, and use of United States forests.
Program staff seek to address emerging user needs by conducting developmental research in addition to performing operational surveys. Current research focuses on seven strategic areas identified in previous legislation and the
2015 Forest Inventory and Analysis Strategic Plan
. Staff have successfully moved out on three of these research portfolios described above. The other four research portfolios are:
Volume, biomass, and carbon:
This portfolio aims to advance the science, monitoring, and reporting of timber volume, forest biomass, and ecosystem carbon in the United States. Research encompasses:
advancing methods and models to support forest resource assessment and harvested wood products analysis,
leveraging program inventories and other information to characterize drivers of change in forest ecosystems and the goods and services forests provides, and
developing estimation and accounting compilation systems, data, and tools to inform forest management, fire mitigation, and adaptation activities.
Digital Engagement:
This portfolio aims transform how the program analyzes, reports, and delivers information. With agency and external partners, digital engagement staff develop and publish data supporting user needs. To see examples of digital engagement work in action, visit the
Geospatial Showcase
or learn about the
BIGMAP project
Land Use and Land Cover:
This portfolio addresses how we understand and report changes in land use and land cover. Program staff monitor the largest set of ground-based land use and land cover observations in the world, thanks to the program's plot network. Analysis of land use and land cover focuses on three goals:
leverage the program's unique dataset to lead national monitoring,
create a forum for experts to coordinate research within and outside of the program, and
communicate new research to customers. Visit the
Land Resources Explorer
to view information on land use, land cover, and change in an interactive map.
Small Area Estimation:
This portfolio aims to modernize methods for estimating forest characteristics within areas smaller than states or countries and at time intervals less than five years. Current research may help us produce a nationwide series of annual, county level forest area and biomass estimates as well as estimates of area and biomass change.
National Program Coordination
The Forest Inventory and Analysis staff work across the Nation. Teams of specialists ensure consistency and efficiency in data collection, management, and analysis. They review and implement modifications, additions, or deletions to any component of the program. These teams cross four functional areas, known as bands.
The
data acquisition band
standardizes core field data collection across the United States. Staff test new protocols, develop documentation and training programs, and conduct quality assurance.
The
information management band
manages data systems, including systems for data collection, data editing and validation, internal and public databases, and publicly accessible web applications
The
analysis band
reports and provides statistically defensible methods for summarizing data, including identification of new variables needed by customers.
The
techniques research band:
Improves program efficiency, timeliness, and quality through research that assesses and integrates new technologies and methodologies into current workflows. Staff also address problem areas outlined in the program strategic plan or identified by Congress, program managers, or national leaders
Background Information and History
The Forest Inventory and Analysis program concept is over 120 years old. The Organic Act of 1897, which established the National Forest System, included provisions for inventory and management of those lands. In 1928, the Forestry Research Act (McSweeney-McNary) directed the Secretary of Agriculture to make and keep current a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the Nation’s forest resources. The Resources Planning Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-378) amended the earlier research act. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-307) replaced earlier Forestry Research legislation but repeated the amendment contained in the Resources Planning Act and further instructed the Secretary of Agriculture to:
“...obtain, analyze, develop, demonstrate, and disseminate scientific information about protecting, managing, and utilizing forest and rangeland renewable resources in rural, suburban, and urban areas”
The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-588) directed the Forest Service to:
“ensure research on and (based upon continuous monitoring and assessment in the field) evaluation of the effects of each management system…”
More recently, in 1999 (Farm Bill, Public Law 105-185) and again in 2014 (Farm Bill, Public Law 113-79), Congress directed the Forest Service to reevaluate its statewide inventory mission and to transition to survey each State annually rather than periodically, with the exception of Interior Alaska and United States associated islands of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. Additionally, Congress directed Forest Inventory and Analysis to inventory urban forests, improve sub-state estimation precision, and improve the timber product output program. With partners, Forest Inventory and Analysis developed
strategic plans
to transition to an annualized inventory and comply with other requirements.
User Notifications and Bulletins
[4/2/2026] EVALIDator may experience extended downtime starting sometime in April
while it is moved to a new hosting environment. A more precise schedule has not been determined yet.
Please be aware of this interruption and schedule work accordingly.
[October 31, 2024] Users are advised that DATIM is no longer available. Please use
EVALIDator
for your data summary needs.
[June 21, 2022] Estimates and statistics based on Alaska borough and census areas may be misleading. FIA's Alaska inventory is ongoing and many survey units have yet to be sampled. The FIA inventory Alaska survey unit boundaries do not follow Alaska’s borough and census area boundaries or ecoregions. The survey units were outlined broadly encompassing major watershed boundaries. Because much of Alaska is not organized into a recognized borough (county equivalent), the FIA program utilizes the Census Bureau Census Area boundaries as the county equivalents in those areas. However, Alaskan borough and municipality boundaries have changed multiple times since the inception of the FIA annualized inventory (~2004). The Census Bureau has also frequently changed Alaskan Census Area boundaries over that same timeframe. Therefore, any FIA reported estimates reflect only the Alaska survey units involved. Any estimates and summary statistics calculated based on borough or Census Area spatial extents may be misleading due to the variability of these features. For more information, please see the supporting documentation
here
Events
Forest Inventory and Analysis Science Symposium
Held every two to three years, the FIA Science Symposium offers an opportunity for scientific and technical exchange, drawing together a world-class group of partners, practitioners, and scientists with regional, national, and international inventory and monitoring missions.
Forest Inventory and Analysis National User Group
2026 FIA National User Group Meeting:
April 14 & 15, 2026 in Indianapolis, IN
The Society of American Foresters (SAF) and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) have a long-standing partnership focused on supporting the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and its growing stakeholder community. Every year, SAF and NCASI convene in-person and virtual forums to bring together FIA leaders and stakeholders to foster two-way learning and improve alignment of user needs and agency resources.
Visit the
Society of American Foresters- Forest Inventory and Analysis User Group
page for more information on upcoming user group meetings and related resources.
Forest Inventory and Analysis Tech Transfer Sessions
Based on recommendations from FIA users, the Society of American Foresters (SAF) convenes quarterly tech transfer sessions to help users better understand how to get the most from FIA tools and resources. Each session offers users an interactive experience with a variety of experts as they walk through key platforms, dashboards, and other resources.
Information on upcoming sessions and recordings of past sessions can be found at the
Society of American Foresters- Forest Inventory and Analysis User Group
page.
Data Download
Data/Tool Name
Description
FIA DataMart
FIA DataMart allows visitors to download raw data files, standard tables, SQLite databases, Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) input files, and a desktop EVALIDator reporting tool. DataMart also provides access to the FIA State reports, FIADB load history, API EVALIDator, and FIADB User Guides.
National Resource Use Monitoring - Data Downloads
The NRUM data download allows users to access files that contain data from both the Timber Products Output (TPO) and Harvest Utilization (HU) studies, combined with FIA inventory data and residential firewood estimates derived from the U.S. Department of Energy residential energy consumption survey
Urban DataMart
Urban DataMart allows visitors to download raw urban data, as well as Urban FIADB User Guides.
Data Analysis Tools
Data/Tool Name
Description
BIGMAP
FIA's cloud-based national scale modeling, mapping, and analysis environment for US forests. This online platform combines FIA's NFI data with remote sensing and other datasets to produce maps of forest resources.
Business Report Dashboard
The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program produces an annual business report aimed at ensuring accountability and transparency to Congress and the public. This dashboard summarizes key financial, partner, and plot measurement information from the business report in an interactive format designed to make it easier for stakeholders to explore the data.
FIA Geospatial Showcase
A showcase of FIA maps, tools, data and applications.
FIA Land Resources Explorer
The Land Resources Explorer is an interactive, user-friendly suite of tools for viewing land area estimates and maps from multiple information sources, including information on land use, land cover, and change.
EVALIDator
and FIADB-API
EVALIDator and FIADB-API allows users to produce a large variety of population estimates and their sampling errors based on the current FIA database. Estimates can be produced as totals (e.g. number of trees) or as ratios (e.g., number of trees per acre of forest land).
FIA DataMart
FIA DataMart allows visitors to download raw data files, standard tables, SQLite databases, Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) input files, and a desktop EVALIDator reporting tool. DataMart also provides access to the FIA State reports, FIADB load history, API EVALIDator, and FIADB User Guides.
FIA One-Click State Factsheets
Allows users to view FIA snapshots of a state’s forest land through an interactive tool. Select the desired state to produce a real-time factsheet based on the most currently available FIA data.
Timber Products Output Interactive Reporting Tool
The TPO Interactive Tool includes estimates of timber products, logging residue, mill residue, residential fuelwood, and other removals based on the selected area.
Timber Products One Click Factsheets
Data include state-wide production, products, number of primary mills and types, roundwood exports/imports, and retained production.
Wood Movement Factsheets
Data include state-wide retained, exported and imported volumes by product and by state exported to or imported from.
National Woodland Owner Survey Dashboard
This tool generates plots and tables for user selected survey question, cycle (i.e. time period), and geography (e.g. national-, regional-, or state-level summaries).
My City's Trees
My City's Trees enables anyone to access Urban FIA data and produce custom analyses and reports. Currently, My City's Trees includes information for all targeted cities with a complete certified dataset.
i-Tree
i-Tree is a suite of software tools that provides forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools, within urban and non-urban forests that quantify forest structure and the environmental benefits that trees provide.
Urban Forest Stats
Urban Forest Stats provides accessible and customized summaries of the estimates produced by Urban FIA data.
Data Consultations and Requests
Data/Tool Name
Description
Data Consultations and Requests
National:
General FIA Questions
Rocky Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, WY, UT):
RMRS Data Services
Pacific Northwest (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA; Pacific Islands: AS, FM, GU, MH, MP, PW):
PNW Data Services
Northern (CT, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, VT, WI, WV):
NRS Data Services
Southern (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA; Caribbean Islands: PR, VI):
SRS Data Services
Spatial Data Services
In order to protect the privacy of landowners and the integrity of the FIA sample, the exact coordinates of plot locations are kept confidential. Exact plot locations are protected by federal law. Therefore, actual FIA plot locations are very rarely shared and only under a specific, limited set of circumstances. Visit the Spatial Data Services page to learn more.
Work with Us
The success of the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program relies on work done in collaboration with external partners and contractors. Staff and contractors complete our work, including data collection, from different locations across the country. For more information on contracts for field work, contact the person(s) associated with the location(s) you are interested in below.
Northern (CT, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, VT, WI, WV):
James Blehm
Pacific Northwest (AK):
Dan Irvine
Pacific Northwest (OR, CA, and WA):
Jonny Beals-Nesmith
Rocky Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, WY, UT):
Maryfaith Snyder
Southern (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA):
James Bentley
Key Personnel
National Contacts
Person
Sara A. Goeking, PhD
Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program Manager
Person
Linda S. Heath, PhD
Director, IMAR
Regional Program Managers
Person
Burl Carraway
SRS FIA Program Manager
Person
Charles H. (Hobie) Perry, PhD
Supervisory Biological Scientist
Person
Sharon Stanton, PhD
PNW Research Station FIA Program Manager
Person
Michael J. Wilson
Program Manager
The Inventories
Program
Nationwide Forest Inventory (NFI)
Program
National Resource Use Monitoring (NRUM)
Program
National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS)
Program
Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis Program
Sampling and Estimation Documentation
J.A. Westfall, J.W. Coulston, G.G. Moisen, H.-E Andersen. 2022.
Sampling and estimation documentation for the Enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis Program: 2022
William Bechtold, Paul L. Patterson, PhD, [Editors]. 2005.
The enhanced forest inventory and analysis program - national sampling design and estimation procedures
Business and Organizational Documents
Strategic Plan
Forest Inventory and Analysis Strategic Plan
Business Report
2023 Forest Inventory and Analysis Business Report
Explore Business Report data in an interactive format via the
Business Report Dashboard
Business Reports from all available years can be found on
Understory
Additional Resources
User Guide
The Forest Inventory and Analysis Database User Guide (NFI)
User Guide
FIADB Population Estimation User Guide
User Guide
Forest Inventory and Analysis Glossary - Standard Terminology
FIA Tree List
FIA Invasive List
Contributions to National and Global Reporting
Resources Planning Act (RPA)
FIA data is analyzed on a five-year cycle to produce
The Forest Resources of the United States
, a supporting document to the
RPA Assessment
that contains information on the status, condition, and trends in the Nation’s Forest resources.
National Report on Sustainable Forests
FIA data is an essential foundation for the National Report on Sustainable Forests and its 54 indicators of forests sustainability, particularly those indicators covering forest extent, structure, and productivity. Without FIA data, the National Report would not be possible.
FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment
Data concerning the state of the Nation’s forests reported by the United States to the Global Forest Resources Assessment and assembled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) come almost exclusively from the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program.
Greenhouse gas inventories to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change
FIA estimates of carbon in forests are crucial for the U.S. national reporting of greenhouse gas inventories to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change.
The North American Forest Database
A platform for enhanced North American forest inventory and monitoring data integration that complements the national forest assessment tools of Canada, Mexico and the USA and the UN FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA).
Carbon Assessments
The Forest Service produces the authoritative research, analyses, and tools for carbon monitoring and estimation across the nation The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program is the foundation for data on forest carbon stocks and fluxes at all scales, from farm scale to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory reporting for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Forest Sustainability Reporting for the Montreal Process, carbon assessment across National Forests and Grasslands, and beyond.
Fifth National Climate Assessment
The Fifth National Climate Assessment is the US Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. FIA scientists and FIA data contributed to the sections related to forests.