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This publication provides forest resource statistics contributing to the 2020 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment to provide current information on the Nation's forests. Resource tables present estimates of for est area, volume, mortality, growth, removals, and timber-product output in various ways within the context of changes since 1953. Additional analyses look at the resource from an ecological, health, and productivity perspective. Tables are available in .pdf and Excel format online at https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/ program-features/rpa/index.php. Users may also query Forest Inventory and Analysis data using the online EVALIDator tool, selecting the radio button labeled "Use RPA definition of forestland" on the second page of the query tool, available online at https://apps.fs.usda.gov/Evalidator/evalidator.jsp.

This report constitutes the third full report of annualized inventory on Ohio forest land and summarizes field data collected from 2011 through 2016. Ohio has 8.0 million acres of forest land containing 103 tree species and 50 forest types. Net cubic-foot and sawtimber volumes continued to increase, as did the area occupied by large diameter stands. Growing-stock volume remained stable overall, though it decreased 3 percent on private land since 2006. The net-growth-to-harvest-removals ratio dropped from 2.3:1 in 2011 to 1.6:1 in 2016. Invasive insects have had a substantial impact on Ohio's forests, particularly for ash species. Additional information on land-use change, fragmentation, ownership, forest composition, structure, age, carbon stocks, regeneration, invasive plants, insect pests, and the possible future of Ohio's forests is also presented. Sets of supplemental tables are available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-118 and contain: 1) tables that summarize quality assurance and 2) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources.

The U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program collects sample plot data on all forest ownerships across the United States. FIA's primary objective is to determine the extent, condition, volume, growth, and use of trees on the Nation's forest land through a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the Nation's forest resources. The FIA program strives for transparency by making the methods and results of the inventory and analysis available to the public. The standard for distributing FIA data is the FIADatabase (FIADB). FIADB data for individual states can be downloaded from the FIA DataMart at https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data/ as Microsoft Access© databases, which can be used to generate estimates of forest area, number of trees, volume, biomass, growth, removals, and mortality. This report complements the Northern Research Station's FIA 5-year state reports beginning with the 2014 inventory and includes detailed information on forest inventory methods, important resource statistics, quality of estimates, and key references.

Forests cannot be managed sustainably without reliable data to inform decisions. National Forest Inventories (NFI) tend to report national statistics, with sub-national stratification based on domestic ecological classification systems. It is becoming increasingly important to be able to report statistics on ecosystems that span international borders, as global change and globalization expand stakeholders' spheres of concern. The state of a transnational ecosystem can only be properly assessed by examining the entire ecosystem. In global forest resource assessments, it may be useful to break national statistics down by ecosystem, especially for large countries. The Inventory and Monitoring Working Group (IMWG) of the North American Forest Commission (NAFC) has begun developing a harmonized North American Forest Database (NAFD) for managing forest inventory data, enabling consistent, continental-scale forest assessment supporting ecosystem-level reporting and relational queries. The first iteration of the database contains data describing 1.9 billion ha, including 677.5 million ha of forest. Data harmonization is made challenging by the existence of definitions and methodologies tailored to suit national circumstances, emerging from each country's professional forestry development. This paper reports the methods used to synchronize three national forest inventories, starting with a small suite of variables and attributes.

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Minnesota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data collected during measurement years 2011-2015 with comparisons made to field data collected in 2006-2010. The 2011-2015 sample data consist of 6,241 field measured plots on forest land, with 20 percent collected per year. Data used in this publication were accessed from the FIA database in March 2016 based on methods described in Bechtold and Patterson (2005) and O'Connell et al. (2014).

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Minnesota based on an inventory conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program within the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data collected during measurement years 2012-2016 with comparisons made to field data collected in 2007-2011. The 2012-2016 sample data consist of 6,176 field measured plots on forest land, with 20 percent collected per year. Data used in this publication were accessed from the FIA database in March 2017 based on methods described in Bechtold and Patterson (2005) and O'Connell et al. (2016).

The second full annual inventory of New Jersey’s forests reports more than 2.0 million acres of forest land and 77 tree species. Forest land is dominated by oak/hickory forest types in the north and pitch pine forest types in the south. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since 1956 and currently totals 3.3 billion cubic feet. Average annual net growth of growing stock from 2008 to 2013 was about 65.7 million cubic feet per year. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land-use change, carbon, timber products, and forest health. The following information is available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-109: 1) detailed information on forest inventory statistics, methods, and quality assurance of data collection, 2) a glossary of terms, 3) tables that summarize quality assurance, 4) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources, and 5) a Microsoft® Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.

The third full annual inventory of Illinois' forests reports more than 4.9 million acres of forest land and 99 tree species. Forest land is dominated by oak/hickory and elm/ash/cottonwood forest types, which make up 92 percent of total forest area. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since 1948 and currently totals 7.0 billion cubic feet. Average annual net growth of growing stock from 2010 to 2015 was about 146.1 million cubic feet per year. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land-use change, carbon, timber products, and forest health. The following information is available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-113: 1) detailed information on forest inventory methods, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection; 2) tables that summarize quality assurance; 3) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources; and 4) a Microsoft� Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.

This report summarizes the third cycle of annualized inventory of Pennsylvania with field data collected from 2009 through 2014. Pennsylvania has 16.9 million acres of forest land dominated by sawtimber stands of oak/hickory and maple/beech/birch forest-type groups. Volumes continue to increase as the forests age with an average of 2,244 cubic feet per acre on timberland. Sawtimber volume has risen 24 percent in 10 years to 115 billion board feet. Net growth outpaced removals by a ratio of 2.4:1 on timberland. Additional information on land-use change, fragmentation, ownership, forest composition, structure and age distribution, carbon stocks, regeneration, invasive plants, insect pests, and wood products is also presented. Sets of supplemental tables are available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-111 and contain: 1) tables that summarize quality assurance and 2) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources.On September 6, 2017, the text on page 85 and figure 62A on page 87 were updated.

This report summarizes the 2013 results of the annualized inventory of Delaware’s forests conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Results are based on data collected from 389 plots located across the State. There are an estimated 362,000 acres of forest land in Delaware with a total live- tree volume of 936 million cubic feet. There has been no change in the area of forest land since 2008, however, live-tree volume in Delaware has been increasing. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies 53 percent of total forest land area. Seventy-four percent of the forest land area is in large diameter stands, 12 percent in medium diameter stands, and 13 percent in small diameter stands. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1950s and currently totals 811 million cubic feet. Between 2008 and 2013, the average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on timberland was approximately 16 million cubic feet per year. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, ownership, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and summary tables of population estimates are available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-115.

The eighth inventory of Michigan's forests, completed in 2014, describes more than 20.3 million acres of forest land. The data in this report are based on visits to 4,289 forested plots from 2009 to 2014. Timberland accounts for 95 percent of this forest land, and 62 percent is privately owned. The sugar maple/beech/yellow birch forest type accounts for 19 percent of the State's forest land, followed by aspen (12 percent) and white oak/red oak/hickory (7 percent). Balsam fir, red maple, and sugar maple are the three most common species by number of trees. Growing-stock volume on timberland has continued to increase and now totals about 30.2 billion cubic feet (ft3). The associated net growth, harvest removals, and mortality totaled 674, 313, and 303 million ft3/year, respectively. In addition to information on forest attributes, this report includes data on forest health, land use change, family forest owners, timber-product outputs, and future forests. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and important resource statistics can be found online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-110.

The Northern United States includes the 20 states bounded by Maine, Maryland, Missouri, and Minnesota. With 70 million ha of forestland and 124 million people, it is the most densely forested (42% of land area) and most densely populated (74 people/km2) quadrant of the United States. Three recent, large-scale, multiresource assessments of forest conditions provide insight about trends and issues in the North, and collectively these and other supporting documents highlight factors that will be extraordinarily influential in large-scale northern forest management needs over the next 50 years. This review article discusses five of those factors: (1) northern forests lack age-class diversity and will uniformly grow old without management interventions or natural disturbances, (2) the area of forestland in the North will decrease as a consequence of expanding urban areas, (3) invasive species will alter forest density, diversity, and function, (4) management intensity for timber is low in northern forests and likely to remain so, and (5) management for nontimber objectives will gain relevance but will be challenging to implement. Suggested actions to address these factors include the following: develop quantifiable state and regional goals for forest diversity, understand the spatial and structural impacts of urban expansion on forests, develop symbiotic relationships among forest owners, forest managers, forest industry and the other stakeholders to support contemporary conservation goals, and work to understand the many dimensions of forest change. In the next several decades, climate change seems unlikely to overwhelm or negate any of the five factors discussed in this article; rather it will add another complicating dimension.

The annual inventory of West Virginia's forests, completed in 2013, covers nearly 12.2 million acres of forest land with an average volume of more than 2,300 cubic feet per acre. This report is based data collected from 2,808 plots located across the State. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies 74 percent of total forest land area. Seventy-eight percent of forest land area consists of a plurality of large diameter trees, 15 percent contains medium diameter trees, and 7 percent contains small diameter trees. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1950s and currently totals over 25 billion cubic feet. The average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on timberland from 2008 to 2013 is approximately 519 million cubic feet per year. Important species compositional changes include increases in sapling numbers of yellow-poplar, American beech, and noncommercial species, which coincide with decreases in numbers of trees and saplings of oak species. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and summary tables of population estimates, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-105.

The third 5-year annualized inventory of Maine's forests was completed in 2013 after more than 3170 forested plots were measured. Maine contains more than 17.6 million acres of forest land, an area that has been quite stable since 1960, covering more than 82 percent of the total land area. The number of live trees greater than 1 inch in diameter are approaching 24.5 billion trees. Aboveground biomass of all live trees has increased slightly since 2008. Over the same period, the average annual volume for tree growth has increased 30 percent and tree mortality has decreased 15 percent. Tree harvest levels have remained flat since 2008.This report also includes detailed information on forest inventory methods and the quality of the estimates found in five tables (Tables A-E). A complete set of data tables and other resources can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-103.

The third full cycle of annual inventories (2009-2013) of Missouri's forests, completed in 2013, reports that there are an estimated 15.5 million acres of forest land in the State. An estimated 60 percent of the forest land area is in sawtimber size stands, 30 percent are pole timber size, and 10 percent are seedling/sapling size or nontstocked. The net volume of live trees on forest land increased by 4 percent, from 20.1 million cubic feet in 2008, to 21.0 million cubic feet in 2013. Average annual net growth of live trees on forest land decreased by more than 25 percent, from an average of 36 cubic feet per acre in 2008, to an average of 26 cubic feet per acre in 2013. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land-use change, carbon, and forest health. In addition to this document, Missouri Forests 2013: Statistics, Methods, and Quality Assurance is online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-108. It contains 1) descriptive information on methods, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection, 2) a glossary of terms, 3) tables that summarize quality assurance, 4) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources, 5) a set of user and database guides for P2, P3, and P2+, and 6) a Microsoft Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.

The third full annual inventory of Iowa's forests (2009-2013) indicates that just under 3 million acres of forest land exists in the State, 81 percent of which is in family forest ownership. Almost all of Iowa's forest land is timberland (96 percent), with an average volume of more than 1,000 cubic feet of growing stock per acre on timberland and more than 1,500 cubic feet of all live volume (for trees at least 5 inches diameter at breast height) per acre on timberland. American elm and eastern hophornbeam are the most numerous tree species, but bur oak and silver maple predominate in terms of live-tree volume. Iowa's forest land is composed of 70 percent sawtimber, 17 percent poletimber, and 13 percent sapling/seedling or nonstocked size classes. Average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on Iowa’s timberland decreased during the past decade to the current estimate of 71 million cubic feet. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land-use change, carbon, timber products, wildlife habitat, forest health, and future projections. The following information is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-102: 1) descriptive information on methods, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection, 2) a glossary of terms, 3) tables that summarize quality assurance, 4) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources, and 5) a Microsoft® Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.

The third full annual inventory of Minnesota forests reports 17.4 million acres of forest land with an average live tree volume of 1,096 cubic feet per acre. Forest land is dominated by the aspen forest type, which occupies 29 percent of the total forest land area. Twenty-eight percent of forest land consists of sawtimber, 35 percent poletimber, 36 percent sapling/seedlings, and 1 percent is nonstocked. The average annual net growth of live trees on forest land is approximately 398 million cubic feet per year while average annual removals are only 207 million cubic feet per year. Additional forest attribute and forest health information is presented, along with information on agents of change including changing land use patterns and the introduction of nonnative plants, insects, and disease. Information from the Private Woodland Owner and Timber Products Output surveys is included along with 50-year projections from the Northern Forest Futures study. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and important resource statistics are available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-104.

This report summarizes the third full annualized inventory of Indiana forests conducted from 2009 to 2013 by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry. Indiana has nearly 4.9 million acres of forest land with an average of 454 trees per acre. Forest land is dominated by the white oak/red oak/hickory forest type, which occupies 72 percent of the total forest land area. Most stands are dominated by large trees. Seventy-eight percent of forest land consists of sawtimber, 15 percent contains poletimber, and 7 percent contains saplings/seedlings. Growing-stock volume on timberland has been rising since the 1980s and currently totals 9.1 billion cubic feet. Annual growth outpaced removals by a ratio of 3.3:1. Additional information on forest attributes, changing land use patterns, timber products, and forest health is included in this report. Detailed information on forest inventory methods and data quality, a glossary of terms, tabular estimates for a variety of forest characteristics, and additional resources are available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-107.

Extensive vegetation inventories established with a probabilistic design are an indispensable tool in describing distributions of species and community types and detecting changes in composition in response to climate or other drivers. The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program measures vegetation in permanent plots on forested lands across the United States of America (GIVD ID NA-US-001). Plot sizes and protocols for measuring tree species are standardized across the country. Additional standardized protocols have been implemented to measure the abundance of non-tree vascular plant and epiphytic lichen species. Research using this and re-lated regional datasets have provided new insights into the key biophysical drivers of community composition and their importance at different spatial scales. Studies have also explored regional differences in species diversity patterns, documented the importance of non-native species, and described the importance of environment and management on the distribution of selected species. Although representation of locally rare community types may be low, the probabilistic sample ensures that ecological drivers are regionally sig-nificant and that results are representative of a region as a whole. Remeasurement of permanent plots provides direct evidence of vege-tation change and enables detection of impacts due to climate, natural disturbance, and forest management.

Woody biomass is a renewable energy feedstock with the potential to reduce current use of nonrenewable fossil fuels. We estimated the physical availability of woody biomass for cocombustion at coal-fired electricity plants in the 20-state US northern region. First, we estimated the total amount of woody biomass needed to replace total annual coal-based electricity consumption at the state level to provide a representation of the potential energy footprints associated with using woody biomass for electric energy. If all woody biomass available were used for electric generation it could replace no more than 19% of coal-based electric generation or 11% of total electric energy generation. Second, we examined annual woody biomass increment at the state level in a series of concentric circles around existing coal-fired electricity plants to examine some of the opportunities and limitations associated with using woody biomass for cofiring at those plants to coincide with state-level renewable portfolio standards. On average, an individual coal-fired power electricity plant could theoretically replace 10% of annual coal use if it obtained 30% of the net annual woody biomass increment within a 34-km radius of the plant. In reality, the irregular spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants means potential biomass supply zones overlap and would greatly diminish opportunities for cofiring with biomass, numerous other regulatory, economic, and social considerations notwithstanding. Given that woody biomass use for electricity will be limited to selected locations, use of woody biomass for energy should be complementary with other forest conservation goals.

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Minnesota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data collected during measurement years 2009-2014 with comparisons made to field data collected in 2005-2009. The 2009-2014 sample data consist of 6,226 field measured plots on forest land, with from 14 to 20 percent collected per year. Data used in this publication were accessed from the FIA database in April 2015 based on methods described in Bechtold and Patterson (2005) and O'Connell et al. (2014).

The Northern Forest Futures database (NFFDB) supports the reporting of both current and projected future forest conditions for the 20 states that make up the U.S. North, an area bounded by Maine, Maryland, Missouri, and Minnesota. The NFFDB database and attendant reporting tools are available to the public as a Microsoft AccessTM database. The NFF_CurrentReports tool generates customized reports for a variety of forest statistics for the 2008 inventory year. The NFF_ProjectionReports program supports the reporting of projected forest statistics by decade through the year 2060 for any of 14 scenarios that reflect varying climatic and socioeconomic possibilities. A description is provided detailing how the NFFDB was constructed using projections from the Forest Dynamics Model (FDM) combined with data from the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis database (FIADB).

The first full remeasurement of the annual inventory of the forests of Vermont and New Hampshire was completed in 2012 and covers nearly 9.5 million acres of forest land, with an average volume of nearly 2,300 cubic feet per acre. The data in this report are based on visits to 1,100 plots located across Vermont and 1,091 plots located across New Hampshire. Forest land is dominated by the maple/beech/birch forest-type group, which occupies 60 percent of total forest land area. Of the forest land, 64 percent consists of large diameter trees, 27 percent contains medium diameter trees, and 9 percent contains small diameter trees. The volume of growing stock on timberland has continued to increase since the 1980s and currently totals nearly 19 billion cubic feet. The average annual net growth of growing stock on timberland from 2007 to 2012 is approximately 380 million cubic feet per year. Important species compositional changes include increases in the number of red maple trees and American beech saplings which coincide with decreases in the number of eastern white pine and sugar maple trees as well as eastern white pine and northern red oak saplings. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health. Detailed information on forest inventory methods and data quality estimates is included on the DVD accompanying this report. Tables of population estimates and a glossary are also included.

This report summarizes the second annual inventory of New York's forests, conducted in 2008-2012. New York's forests cover 19.0 million acres; 15.9 million acres are classified as timberland and 3.1 million acres as reserved and other forest land. Forest land is dominated by the maple/beech/birch forest-type group that occupies more than half of the forest land. The sound wood volume on timberland has been rising and is currently 37.4 billion cubic feet, enough to produce saw logs equivalent to 93.7 billion board feet. On timberland, the average annual growth in volume of live trees outpaced removals by a ratio of 2.1:1. The net change in volume averaged 1.1 percent per year. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land use, forest fragmentation, forest ownership, forest health indicators, timber products, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection. Detailed information on forest inventory methods and data quality are available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-98.

This report summarizes the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) forest inventory data, collected from 2008 to 2012, for Southern New England, defined as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Forests cover an estimated 5,128,000 acres or 59 percent of Southern New England�1,736,000 acres in Connecticut (56 percent of the State), 3,028,000 acres in Massachusetts (61 percent), and 364,000 acres in Rhode Island (55 percent). There was no substantial change in the area of forest land between the current, 2012, and the previous, 2007, FIA inventories. Nearly two-thirds of the forests of the region are privately owned and most of these forests are owned by families and individuals who own the land primarily for the amenity values their forests provide. Seventy-six species of trees were observed on the FIA inventory plots. Red maple is the most common species across the region, but eastern white pine, northern red oak, black oak, eastern hemlock, scarlet oak, and sweet birch are also common. Although the forests of the region are fairly healthy, there are several issues that are threatening them, including invasive plants and introduced pests. Also, human disturbances, such as development, are projected to have a substantial impact on the region and broad-scale natural disturbance, such as hurricanes, are other potential factors that will influence the future of the forests.

A relative stand density assessment technique, using the mean specific gravity of all trees in a stand to predict its maximum stand density index (SDI) and subsequently its relative stand density (current SDI divided by maximum SDI), was used to estimate the relative density of forests across the United States using a national-scale forest inventory. Live tree biomass (dry metric tons) varies widely across the US with the largest amounts in the Pacific Northwest region followed by the hardwood forests of the eastern US. In contrast, the range of relative density appears to be less disparate with numerous forests across the US having densities as high as areas in the Pacific Northwest. Overall, the large-scale assessment of relative density indicates that the majority of forests in the US are fully occupied in a rather contiguous pattern except for areas of the western US.

Stand density index (SDI), although developed for use in even-aged monocultures, has been used for assessing stand density in large-scale forest inventories containing diverse tree species and size distributions. To improve application of SDI in uneven-aged, mixed species stands present in large-scale forest inventories, trends in maximum SDI across diameter classes and species combinations were observed for eight common tree species of the United States. Additionally, the relationship between a stand's mean specific gravity of component trees and maximum SDI was explored. Results indicate that the maximum SDI that any particular species may attain is affected to varying degrees by the species composition of subject stands. A strong relationship was found between the mean specific gravity of all trees in a stand and the 99th percentile of the observed distribution of stand SDI's by classes of mean stand specific gravity. A model is proposed whereby the mean specific gravity of individual trees in a stand may serve as a predictor of a stand's maximum stocking potential, regardless of the stand's diameter distribution and species composition.

Forest sustainability has emerged as a crucial component of all current issues related to forest management. The seven Montreal Process Criteria are well accepted as categories of processes for evaluating forest management with respect to sustainability, and data collected by the Forest and Inventory Analysis (FIA) program of the United States Forest Service are well suited for such evaluations. The FIA program focuses on the collection, analysis, and distribution of data for a core set of variables obtained using a plot configuration, a sampling design, and measurement protocols that all feature national consistency. Plot, subplot, and tree-level observations include traditional mensurational measurements such as forest area, tree species, diameter, and survival and a suite of non-tree measurements related to the health of the forest. FIA data are recognized for their completeness, geographic coverage, and accessibility to users via a user-friendly interface to a national database. Three example...

The Santiago Declaration identified seven criteria and 67 indicators for assessing the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests. Data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service can be used to directly address at least 11 biological indicators. The FIA program has conducted periodic inventories of forestland for several decades. These inventories provide statistical estimates of forest area, timber volume, growth, removals, and mortality. Recent legislation has mandated that the Forest Service inventory the forestland of the US on an annual basis measuring the entire set of national sample plots over a 5-year period. This paper identifies which criteria and indicators can be addressed by FIA data; the scale at which it may be appropriate to use these data; and how recent changes will impact the Forest Service’s ability to provide information needed to address these indicators. Data from the two most recent inventories of Iowa (1974 and 1990) and Minnesota (1977 and 1990) are used to show how criteria and indicators relate to trends in forest composition and extent, timber resource utilization, and the population size of native and non-native trees. These two states have distinctly different forest resources, ranging from sparse to dense, and provide a good test of the effectiveness of using forest inventory data to provide criteria and indicator information at the state level. Analysis of the data for the last two inventories of Iowa and Minnesota reveals that the area of timberland has increased by 34 and 8%, respectively, while growing-stock volumes have increased by 47 and 23%. Volumes of most native species increased over the period, especially for pioneer species such as Juniperus virginiana L. [ Little (1979) . Agricultural Handbook No. 541, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ft. Collins, CO] (eastern red cedar). A notable exception was the 52% decline of Ulmus americana L. (American elm) due to the spread of Dutch elm disease. The number of non-native species also increased. In Iowa, the estimated number of live Ulmus pumila L. (Siberian elm) trees, a non-native species, went from 0 in 1974 to 675×103 in 1990. During the 1990 inventory of Minnesota another non-native species, Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle (tree of heaven), was sampled for the first time.

This science update provides an overview of forest resources in Minnesota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data, collected using the FIA annualized sample design, for the measurement years 2009-2013 with comparisons made to field data collected using the annual design in 2004-2008. The 2009-2013 sample data consist of 6,221 field measured plots on forest land, with about 20 percent collected per year. Data used in this publication were accessed from the FIA Database in April 2014.

During April 2007, forest land per capita in the United States dropped below 1 ha. This is the result of a rather static area of forest land in the United States for the past 100 years combined with population growth. The US now joins the ranks of most countries (77%) having forest land per capita below 1 ha. The combination of an increasing human population with stable or increasing per capita natural resource utilization may place even more demand on resources derived from forest land in the future. The forest land per capita should be expected to continue its downward trend unless substantive demographic, resource utilization, and land-use changes occur.

The second completed annual inventory of Kansas' forests reports 2.4 million acres of forest land, roughly 5 percent of the total land area in the State. Softwood forests account for 4.4 percent of the total timberland area. Oak/hickory forest types make up 55 percent of the total hardwood forest land area. Elm/ash/cottonwood accounts for more than 32 percent of the timberland area. Kansas' forests have continued to increase in volume. In 2010, net volume of growing stock on timberland was an estimated 1.45 billion cubic feet compared with 0.5 billion cubic feet in 1965. Live-tree biomass on forest land in Kansas amounted to 82.5 million dry tons in 2010. More than 6 percent was in trees less than 5 inches in diameter. About 94 percent of Kansas� forest land is held by private landowners.

The nonnative invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire; EAB) has caused considerable damage to the ash (Fraxinus spp.) resource in North America. While there are methods to mitigate, contain, control, or even eradicate some nonnative invasive insects, EAB continues to spread across North America. Considering strong evidence suggesting >99 percent probability of host tree mortality, the loss of the North American ash resource is possible. To examine anticipated effects of EAB on tree species composition, we modeled future spatial and temporal changes in forest composition over the next 50 years with and without ash mortality anticipated from EAB spread. We used U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data, the current extent of EAB in the United States and Canada, estimated spread rate and host mortality data, and a suite of human population, energy, consumption, land use, and economic models to project the future condition of forests in the Midwest and Northeast United States. Our results suggest that in most cases EAB will not have a substantial effect on ecosystem function of future forests measured by FIA because of the replacement of ash by other species. The transition from ash to other species may take many decades, but forests can eventually recover when a variety of associated species replace ash.

The second full annual inventory of Wisconsin's forests reports more than 16.7 million acres of forest land with an average volume of more than 1,400 cubic feet per acre. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies slightly more than one quarter of the total forest land area; the maple/beech/birch forest-type group occupies an additional 23 percent. Forty-two percent of forest land consists of large diameter stands, 23 percent contains medium diameter stands, and 8 percent contains small diameter stands. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1980s and currently totals more than 21.1 billion cubic feet. The average annual net growth of growing stock on forest land from 2005 to 2009 is approximately 572 million cubic feet per year. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products, forest health, and statistics and quality assurance of data collection.

The second full annual inventory of Minnesota's forests reports 17 million acres of forest land with an average volume of more than 1,000 cubic feet per acre. Forest land is dominated by the aspen forest type, which occupies nearly 30 percent of the total forest land area. Twenty-eight percent of forest land consists of sawtimber, 35 percent poletimber, 35 percent sapling/seedlings, and 2 percent is nonstocked. Additional forest attribute and forest health information is presented along with information on agents of change including changing land use patterns and the introduction of nonnative plants, insects, and disease. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and important resource statistics can be found on the Statistics and Quality Assurance DVD included in this report.

The second full annual inventory of Missouri's forests (2004-2008) reports more than 15 million acres of forest land, almost all of which is timberland (98 percent), with an average volume of more than 1,117 cubic feet of growing stock per acre. White oak and black oak are the most abundant in terms of live tree volume. Eighty-three percent of the State's forest land is owned by private landowners. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products,climate change, forest health, and the role of fire. A DVD included in this report includes 1) descriptive information on methods, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection, 2) a glossary of terms, 3) tables that summarize quality assurance, 4) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources, and 5) a Microsoft Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.

The first full annual inventory of South Dakota's forests was completed in 2005 after 8,302 plots were selected and 325 forested plots were visited and measured. This report includes detailed information on forest inventory methods and data quality estimates. Important resource statistics are included in the tables. A detailed analysis of the South Dakota inventory is presented in Resource Bulletin NRS-35 (www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rb/rb_nrs35.pdf). This publication is a companion to South Dakota's forests 2005, Resource Bulletin NRS-35.

The first full annual inventory of Nebraska's forests was completed in 2005 after 8,335 plots were selected and 274 forested plots were visited and measured. This report includes detailed information on forest inventory methods, and data quality estimates. Tables of various important resource statistics are presented. Detailed analysis of the inventory data are presented in a separate publication (Resource Bulletin NRS-16, Meneguzzo et al. 2008). This publication is a companion to Nebraska's Forest Resources, 2005, Resource Bulletin NRS-16.

The first full annual inventory of Kansas's forests was completed in 2005 after 8,868 plots were selected and 468 forested plots were visited and measured. This report includes detailed information on forest inventory methods and data quality estimates. Important resource statistics are included in the tables. A detailed analysis of Kansas inventory is presented in Resource Bulletin NRS-26.

This report summarizes the results of the fifth forest inventory of the forests of Southern New England, defined as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and analysis program. Information on forest attributes, ownership, land use change, carbon, timber products, forest health, and statistics and quality assurance of data collection are included. There are 5.1 million acres of forest land across the region; 60 percent of this forest land is in Massachusetts, 33 percent in Connecticut, and 7 percent in Rhode Island. This amount has decreased by 5 percent since the last inventory was completed in 1998. There are 2.6 billion trees on this forest land that have total volume of 12.6 billion cubic feet. Red maple and eastern white pine are the most common species in terms of both numbers of trees and volume. Fifty percent of the forest land is classified as the oak-hickory forest type.

The second full annual inventory of Iowa's forests (2004-2008) reports more than 3 million acres of forest land, almost all of which is timberland (98 percent), with an average volume of more than 1,000 cubic feet of growing stock per acre. American elm and eastern hophornbeam are the most numerous tree species, but silver maple and bur oak predominate in terms of live tree volume. Iowa's forest land is comprised of 65 percent sawtimber, 19 percent poletimber, and 16 percent sapling/seedling or nonstocked size classes. Average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on Iowa's timberland increased during the past decade to the current estimate of nearly 105 million cubic feet. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products, and forest health. A DVD included in this report includes 1) descriptive information on methods, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection, 2) a glossary of terms, 3) tables that summarize quality assurance, 4) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources, and 5) a Microsoft Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.

The U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program collects sample plot data on all forest ownerships across the United States. This report documents the methodology used to estimate live-tree gross, net, and sound volume for the 24 States inventoried by the Northern Research Station's (NRS) FIA unit. Sound volume is of particular interest because it is used in live-tree biomass and carbon estimates. NRS currently uses four volume equations for each of four geographic regions.

This paper reports information for the estimation of biomass for 156 tree species found in North America for use in national forest inventory applications. We present specific gravities based on average green volume as well as 12 percent moisture content volume for calculation of oven-dry biomass. Additional information is included on bark thickness, bark voids, and bark percentages by species and green and dry weight of wood and bark.Note: Values in Table 5 were corrected on Feb. 10, 2010. See page 35 of this publication.

This publication is a simplified version of the Forest Inventory and Analysis Data Base (FIADB) for users who do not need to compute sampling errors and may find the FIADB unnecessarily complex. Possible users include GIS specialists who may be interested only in identifying and retrieving geographic information and per acre values for the set of plots used in producing forest statistics for a state report. Application developers and modelers may also find FIADB-Lite useful. In FIADB-Lite, the set of plots used in producing forest statistics for a state report can be identified by a single variable, and data processing has been simplified by combining information found in three tables into a single table.

The first completed annual inventory of Minnesota's forests reports more than 16.2 million acres of forest land. Additional forest attribute and forest health information is presented along with information on agents of change including changing land use patterns and the introduction of nonnative plants, insects, and diseases.