Forest Inventory and Analysis

The Missouri Department of Conservation cooperates with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to provide the information needed to assess Missouri and America's forests. The "Nation's continuous forest census", FIA projects how forests are likely to appear 10 to 50 years from now. This enables us to evaluate whether current forest management practices are sustainable in the long run and to assess whether current policies will allow the next generation to enjoy America's forests as we do today. FIA reports on status and trends in forest area and location; in the species, size, and health of trees; in total tree growth, mortality, and removals by harvest; in wood production and utilization rates by various products; and in forest land ownership. Since it's inception, the FIA program has changed from a periodic survey to an annual survey, increasing the capacity to analyze and publish data, and expanded the scope of data collection to include soil, under story vegetation, tree crown conditions, coarse woody debris, and lichen community composition. The FIA program has also expanded to include the sampling of urban trees on all land use types in select cities. FIA is managed by the Research and Development organization within the USFS in cooperation state partners like MDC.