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Several Federal laws mandate that forest resource information be periodically collected, analyzed, and reported. The most recent of these laws are the Resources Planning Act of 1974, the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978. While each state of the nation has a natural resource agency that manages or regulates activities on forest land, none conduct statewide resource inventories. The USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis, is the only organization, public or private, that conducts such extensive forest resource inventories, continually providing resource information for regions, states, and areas within states.
In the past, complete inventories were conducted approximately once every 10 years in each state, and mid-cycle or special inventories were conducted as special issues and needs warranted. Such resource information has been collected for all lands, public and private, which now spans almost half a century. This unique data base is constantly used by a wide variety of research groups, natural resource agencies, conservation associations, state and regional economic development groups, individual landowners, the forest products industry, and others who are interested in the extent, condition, and use of forest resources. The value of this long-term, broad data base is widely recognized and used for special analyses of specific resource issues and concerns.
However, A recent amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Act of 1978 has legislated a new kind of forest inventory -- one that will provide information in a more consistent and timely fashion. This is called the annual inventory process. It specifies that:
Between 10 and 20 percent of all Forest Inventory and Analysis sample plots will be measured each year in every state.
A compilation of all the data collected will be made available anually to the public.
Every five years a report will be prepared, published, and made available to the public (with the cooperation of the State foresters) detailing the results of the previous inventories, and an analysis of the forest health conditions and trends over the previous two decades.
National standards and definitions will be implemented to ensure uniform and consistent data collection by the various Forest Inventory and Analysis Units located throughout the country.
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Legislative Authority
