Presentations

2017 National FIA User Group Meeting

April 4-5 | Madison, Wisconsin

Field Trip – Urban Forest Products and tour of Forest Products Lab Research
The field trip included a tour of the Forest Products Laboratory; a visit to Festival Foods, a grocery store in which some of the internal support columns are made from whole ash trees that were locally sourced from Madison parks; and a visit to Baraboo Woodworks, a small urban sawmill that focuses on turning urban wood into high quality furniture and other products.

Introduction & Welcome

After introductions, some perspective about Wisconsin and the Lake States, its forest resources, forestry issues; viewpoints from a state that has intensified its sample. A welcome and brief overview of the Forest Products Lab.

Welcome & Introductions, John Barnwell
Welcome to Wisconsin, About Wisconsin, Fred Souba
Welcome to FPL, Mike Ritter

Context for Meeting
A review of the meeting agenda and discussion of the meeting goals and objectives. Then, some discussion of the context for the FIA program 2017-2018 and beyond, given what is known about budgets and priorities.

Meeting Overview & Goals, Steve Prisley
FIA within the Bigger USFS/USDA Picture, Linda Heath
Budget and Program Coordination, Greg Reams

The Broad Scope of FIA: Brief updates on program, projects, and progress
A series of brief updates on projects that give a sense of the broad reach of the FIA program; focused more on status, future directions, current challenges, etc. than on technical details

Status of the Core: What is Current Where?Michael Wilson
Urban Inventory, Mark Majewski
Alaska Inventory, Sharon Staunton
NFS Projects & Applications, Renate Bush/Wayne Robbie
Non-Timber Forest Products, Jim Chamberlain

Modeling, Estimation, and Reporting
What efforts are underway to improve equations, processes, and delivery of information?

User Needs for Prompt and Accurate Estimation, Mike Clutter
Biomass Equations, Jim Westfall
GRM Estimation, Glen Christensen
Data Delivery, Barbara O’Connell
State of America’s Forests 2017, Mila Alvarez

FIA Applications

A series of brief updates on projects that give a sense of the broad reach of the FIA program; focused more on status, future directions, current challenges, etc. than on technical details

Forest Regeneration / Planting Survey, Andy Hartsell
Carbon Accounting, Grant Domke
GHG Inventory, Tom Wirth, EPA
Biogenic CO₂ Emissions, Sarah Ohrel, EPA
Engagement Portfolio/Forest Atlas, Chris Oswalt

FIA and Forest Ownership
What FIA collects about forest ownership, how information about owners can inform modeling, estimation, and projection. How can we provide needed information while maintaining confidentiality?

The Need for Ownership Information: A User Perspective, Steve Prisley
National Woodland Owners Survey, Brett Butler
Corporate Owner Survey, Andy Hartsell
American Forest Foundation Perspective, Sarah Crow

Monitoring of Forest Products and Production: Panel Discussion
Panelists will discuss their perspectives on the collection, analysis, and reporting of forest products data. Status, plans, and challenges in nationalizing the TPO program.

Perspective from Providers of Data, Jay Watrous, IP
State Perspectives on TPO, Andy Stoltman
Annualizing the TPO Survey: Update, John Coulston

Resources Planning Act (RPA) Activities and Updates: Panel Discussion
Panelists will discuss the status, approaches, and results from RPA assessment and updates.

Panel Moderator: Steve Prisley
Panel Members: Linda Langner / Dave Wear

Leveraging FIA with Remotely Sensed Data
How we are working to integrate plot data with remotely sensed data, including LIDAR, aerial photographs, Landsat time series, etc. The focus should be on a vision for moving from various research projects to operationalizing and producing national products.

The Need for Fine Spatial Scale Information: A User Perspective, Dale Hogg
National Overview of Development/Applications, Jim Ellenwood
Disturbance Mapping and Time Series Data, Karen Schleeweis
Applications for Aerial Photography and FIA, Tracey Frescino

Synthesis and Recommendations
How does FIA grow to encompass new challenges, users, and applications while maintaining rigorous adherence to legislative programmatic mandates and core uses? What do administrators see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for the program? What do users see as the highest priorities for focus of effort? The meeting will end with an open discussion of issues, priorities, and recommendations for ongoing improvement.

State Perspectives on Needs and Challenges, Chris Maisch
Group Discussions: Issues, Priorities, Next Steps, John Barnwell
Compilation of Recommendations and Adjourn, Steve Prisley