NRSFIA RMT

FIA Budget Situation

FIAFunding Source

FY10 (mm $)

FY11 (mm $)

FY12 (mm $)

FY13 (mm $)

FY14 P.P.

(mm $)

FY14 Senate(mm $)

FY14 House(mm $)

FY14 CR

(mm $)

FY14 CR – (3%-8%)

(mm $)National R&D 66.9 66.8 64.2 60.9 66.8 66.8 66.8 60.9 59.1/56.0

S&PF 4.9 4.6 4.3 3.7 0.0 0.0 5.0 3.7 3.6/3.4Total 71.8 71.5 68.6 64.6 66.8 66.8 71.8 64.6 62.7/59.4

NRS R&D 16.6 15.9 15.5 14.6 ~16.0 ~16.0 ~16.0 14.6 ~14.2/13.4S&PF 0.6 1.2 1.1 1.0 ~0.0 ~0.0 ~1.3 1.0 ~1.0/0.9

Total 17.3 17.1 16.7 15.6 ~16.0 ~16.0 ~17.3 15.6 ~15.2/14.3

Lot’s of scenarios for final FY14 – better, better, best, okay, worse, bad

Funding targets under new Strategic Plan--$80+ base; $90+ Farm Bill pushes

FIA Strategic Plan Initial thoughts--focus on 11 FIA Farm Bill points:

1. Fully Annual (AK)

2. Urban

3. Carbon/Biomass

4. Reevaluate the Core

5. TPO

6. Cooperation/Support

7. Partnering (analysis and IM)

8. Remote Sensing

9. Land-use Change

10. NWOS

11. Better estimates for smaller areas

But the Farm Bill hasn’t passed, so….

FIA Strategic Plan

• 4 Main Themes– Solidify the Base Program

– Enhance Delivery of the Base Program

– Expand the Program

– Flexibility

Solidify the Base Program• Inventory Interior Alaska

– The final frontier where no annual FIA crew has gone before

• Fully Develop the Non-Plot Mission Areas of FIA

– Timber Product Output (TPO)• Nationalize and create center of excellence thru a university partner

– National Woodland Owners Survey (NWOS)• Bolster Family Forest Research Center at U of MA

– Forest Carbon Accounting• Institutionalize within FIA (Carbon is Us)• Continually improve National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Enhance Delivery of the Base Program

• Partnerships – Got us here; critical to getting us there

• New Technology– Gizmos, Gadgets, and Glitz

• More Techniques Research – Faster, Better, Cheaper

• Increased Analytical Capability– Making Hay.

• Education – Training, Tools, and Touting

Expand the Program

• The FIA Grid—A Marginal Cost Opportunity

– Treed Land Inventory• Urban forests

• Riparian forests

• Working trees in agricultural landscapes– Windrows

– Shelterbelts

– Etc.

– Vegetative Inventory• Rangelands

• Etc.

• Extend the FIA Grid across all land uses and covers

Expand the Program • Focus on Urban First

– Urban first• The forests amongst which most of our populace live (and vote)• The only forests that many of our populace ever know• The forests often first impacted by invasive species• The forests on the frontline of service to people and communities• The forests not yet covered by a continuous monitoring system

– Fill the information gap• Foster urban forest stewardship• Provide an urban to rural gradient• Cover the wildland-urban interface• Support “vibrant city” initiatives• Feed the link to human health and safety, and community stability• Care for the land and serve the people where they live

Flexibility

FIA budgets are trending downPast protocols and procedures too rigid

Bumping up against budgetary realities

Reaching logistical limits

No desire to return a timber inventoryNeed sampling and protocol flexibilities

Provide a robust inventory of forest ecosystems

Accommodate regional needs and diversity

Remain nationally consistent

Balance delivery with resources

Flexibilities

• Sub-paneling for optimal cycle lengths

• Sub-sampling plots in a sub-panel – Summer-window or other optimal sub-sample

• Sub-sampling sub/micro/macro-plots on plots – Better logistical balance

• Accommodating levels of indicator attribution– “Lite” to “Heavy”– Better balance info needs with workload constraints

• Temporal flexibility in re-measurement cycles – If it doesn’t change often then measure it less frequently

Sliding Scale Conceptual Model

96000…..……………………...................…6000

SpatialSample Intensity (ac/plt)

Grid Subsample

Veg 5……………………7…………………………….10

TemporalCycle Length (yrs)

Lite………………………………………..Heavy

LevelAttribute Detail

96000…..……………………...................…6000

SpatialSample Intensity (ac/plt)

Plot Subsample

Height 5……………………7…………………………….10

TemporalCycle Length (yrs)

Light………………………………………..Normal

LevelAttribute Detail

96000…..……………………...................…6000

SpatialSample Intensity (ac/plt)

Subpopulations Reserved 5……………………7…………………………….10

TemporalCycle Length (yrs)

Light………………………………………..Normal

LevelAttribute Detail

Light………………………………………..Normal

LevelAttribute Detail

5……………………7…………………………….10

TemporalCycle Length (yrs)

96000…..……………………...................…6000

SpatialSample Intensity (ac/plt)

Subpopulations

Timberland

Min……………………………………..Max

Sliding RangeSliding ElementsSurvey

Design Component

Unit A

Unit B

Minimums ensure viable national effort

Maximums set the limit of federal investment; any more needs cash infusion

All efforts within min/max bounds nationally consistent

No state, forestland, ownership, core variable left behind

Needs a very robust IT system, currently underdevelopment

Each region needs similar proportion of full funding

NA

NA

Nationalize and regionally optimize

Regionally robust within national confines

FIA Strategic Plan

Finalize as soon as we know the outcome of the Farm Bill debate

Future Reporting

Publications -- < $$$

•National templates• < layout $$$

•Printing costs• Page limits• Copy limits

•Fewer Pubs• Sub-regional reports

•Push to Digital

Future Reporting

Less paper; More technology

» http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/futures/dashboard/?state=MI&var=NO_TREES

» http://www.texasforestinfo.com/

» http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20101208/PAGES/312089998

» http://www.asla.org/sustainablelandscapes/Vid_UrbanForests.html

» Smart websites/tools/apps

Interpretive

Interactive

Topical

Spatial

Visual

Graphical

Contextual

Temporal

Dynamic