Forest inventory and analysis: a national inventory and monitoring program

Forests provide significant commodity and noncommodity values to the citizens of the United States. An important and substantial role in ensuring the continued health, productivity, and sustainability of these resources is a reliable and credible inventory and monitoring program. The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the US Forest Service has been monitoring and reporting on status, condition, and trends in the nation’s forests for over 70 years and the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) program for the last 11 years. Recent legislation included in the 1998 Farm Bill, along with efforts to integrate inventory and monitoring networks to deliver Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forests, are redefining the role and operation of the recently integrated FIA and FHM programs. This paper provides a brief history and a look at new directions for the enhanced FIA Program.