History and Current Status
of the Forestry Inventory & Analysis
Program
FIA is a nationwide timber
and forest resource inventory that
has been ongoing for over 70 years
in Alabama. A wide variety of timber
and other forest resource data is
collected from FIA survey plots.
There are 5,572 survey plots
distributed throughout the state;
for the most part, at an approximate
3 X 3 mile spacing. The majority of
the plots were established in the
1930’s by the U. S. Forest Service
(USFS); however, for various reasons
a few new plots are established each
year. The plots exist on all types
of ownership (private, industry, and
public). Prior to 1997 the USFS
conducted a periodic survey
approximately every 10 years.
However, the Forest Service and the
States agreed that a 10 year
interval between surveys was too
long due to increases in demand of
forest products and changes in land
use.
In 1997 the USFS and Alabama
Forestry
Commission (AFC) agreed to let the
AFC take over the data collection
aspect of the survey. Initially, the
AFC had 10 crews with assigned work
zones. With the help of USFS crews
in 2000, the periodic survey for the
state was completed in January of
2001. Beginning in 2001 a continuous
annual survey was implemented in
which 20% of the total number of FIA
plots were surveyed each year so
after 5 years a full FIA cycle would
be completed. (NOTE: A cycle
consists of all FIA plots
distributed throughout the state.
The yearly allocation of plots to be
surveyed is referred to as a panel).
In late 2005 the last panel of plots
was completed for the cycle that
began in 2001. FIA statistical
information for Alabama (and other
states) can be accessed from the
USFS’ “FIA Mapmaker” website at:
http://fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data/other/default.asp.
With the advent of the annual
survey, each year the most current
panel that has been analyzed is
added to the 2005 FIA data results
and the oldest year’s panel is
deleted from the statistics so there
will always be an entire cycle’s
worth of information.
Currently, there are 6 full-time AFC
employees assigned to FIA – 5 crew
leaders and the FIA Coordinator. In
early 2006, the FIA crew began
surveying plots in the first panel
of a new 7-year cycle which means
that approximately 15% of all plots
are to be surveyed yearly. Today,
crews are surveying plots in the
fourth panel of the current
seven-panel cycle.
How is the FIA information used?
Existing business and
industry managers are increasingly
in need of information regarding the
timber resource in order to make
product and investment decision.
Potential investors use the
information to make analyses and
provide reports indicating desirable
or underdesirable locations for new
or expanding forest products
operations. Economic developers
actively recruit forest industry and
utilize the FIA information to plan
for future industrial development in
their respective communities in
order to expand the economy and
increase employment opportunities
for citizens in their communities.
Environmental policy makers and
regulators are using the FIA
information as the basis upon which
public environmental policy on
forest use is developed and results
monitored over time. It is clear
that forest management in the future
will be increasingly complex and
demanding. Decisions made by forest
managers will be subject to more
scrutiny, both by industry and by
the general public. Making good
balanced decisions regarding our
southern forests will be imperative.
Good decisions can only be made by
competent professionals who are
acting with the benefit of good
information. Without the benefit of
good and timely information about
the conditions of our forests, it
will not be possible to consistently
make good management decisions about
our most important resource. |
Alert advice for timberland
landowners and resource planners:
The Alabama Forestry Commission, in
cooperation with the US Forest
Service, provides for the continuous
inventory of the State’s timber
resources. This inventory is used
primarily to show regional total
timber volume, growth and drain for
both pine and hardwood, and to
understand conversion of land to and
from the timberland use.
It should be noted that the
FIA inventory only samples 15% of
the State each year and that it is
likely that counties which have been
impacted by natural disasters such
as hurricanes and tornadoes will
have pre-event data included in the
most recently published FIA data.
Therefore, the Alabama Forestry
Commission wants to alert
landowners, especially in the
Southwest part of the State heavily
damaged by Hurricane Ivan and storms
thereafter, that the FIA data may
not accurately reflect the timber
resource and that there is a valid
chance that such inventory could be
overstated.
The long term impact to
Alabama’s timberland inventory from
the series of tropical events that
struck the SW area the State in 2004
and 2005 will not be fully vetted
for sometime to come. The AFC
encourages landowners and/or
economic planners who require
statistically valid current pine or
hardwood inventory data from
counties especially hard hit by
these storms, to seek a more
applicable inventory than the
recently published FIA data.
For more information, please
review the storm maps or call your
local AFC office for assistance.
-
Ivan
Storm Map
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Katrina Storm Map
-
Dennis Strom Map |