PA C I F I C
N O R T H W E S T
Quarterly
Forest Inventory
& Analysis
Issue 3 / Spring 2005
A Message From the Program Manager
Inside:
A
A Message
Message From
From the
the
Program Manager ......................1
Program Manager ......................1
Availability
Field
Data of FIA Data
Collection
QA/QC ...................1
and Plot Coordinates
...............2
Status of Field
Employee
le.........................2
InventoriesProfi
..................................2
Employee
Profiles ......................2
Recent PNW-FIA
Publications.......
..........................3
PNW-FIA
Annual
Client Meetings..........................3
2005
Client
Meeting
Recent
PNW-FIA
Summary .....................................3
Publications.................................4
Forest Inventory and Analysis
Draft Strategic Plan...................3
The rains have finally started to fall here in Oregon, we’ve received the final
budget allocation, and the field crew is gearing up to go to the field – What more
could a Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program manager ask for?
The good news is that the annual inventory data for Washington, Oregon,
and California collected from 2000 through 2003 has finally been posted to the
national FIA Web site (http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data/data). We are
currently working on the compilation of the 2004 data and plan to have on the
Web site by midsummer.
In addition to processing data, we are in the training phase for the Washington,
Oregon, and California field staff as well as preparing for the second year of
annual inventory in coastal Alaska. We have been working with the Alaska
Region wilderness staff to gain access to wilderness plots for both forested and
nonforested plots to complete our base grid inventory for all National Forest
System lands in Alaska.
The national FIA Program is undergoing a strategic planning effort to focus
the program for the next 5 years. A draft strategic plan is available on our Web
site at (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia/news/draft_strategicplan.pdf) and we
welcome your thoughts and comments. See also the last article in this newsletter.
— Sue Willits, PNW-FIA Program Manager
Field Data Collection QA/QC
Forest Inventory and Analysis
Pacific Northwest Research Station
P.O. Box 3890
Portland, OR 97208-3890
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia
The FIA Program is committed to using a rigorous program of quality assurance
and quality control (QA/QC) (see definition of QA/QC on p. 2) to ensure that
all data collected, synthesized, and used are scientifically sound, of known
quality (precision and accuracy), and thoroughly documented. The FIA QA/QC
program encompasses the collection, processing, analysis, and reporting of data.
The following items describe key QA/QC activities that are carried out for data
collection:
Training Data Collection Crews
After several weeks of training, production crews are tested and certified for
their ability to generate data that conform to established measurement quality
objectives (MQOs). Experienced crew members are paired with new crew
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P A C I F I C
N O R T H W E S T
Forest Inventory & Analysis Quarterly
Issue 3 / Spring 2005
2
(continued from page 1)
members to provide additional on-the-job training during the field season.
A variety of checks and remeasurements are used to provide for quality control
during FIA field operations:
Real-Time Checking of Field Data on Data Recorders
Crews use portable data recorders (PDRs) to reduce data entry errors. Some data
(such as location coordinates or prior measurement data) are loaded onto PDRs
before they are taken to the fields. The PDRs are programmed with data checks that
alert crews if data are outside of certain bounds or illogical.
Other Data Accuracy Checks
Completed plot data are reviewed by field crews for certain attributes that the PDR
edit checks do not address and are then edited on laptops before being transmitted
to the office. Data are checked further for errors during office processing, and field
staff may be asked to resolve any errors.
Hot, Cold, and Blind Checks
Hot checks provide immediate feedback about a crew’s performance. It is an
inspection normally done as part of the training process where QA/QC staff are
present on the plot with the crew.
Cold checks are a remeasurement of production plots done by QA/QC staff with
crew data in-hand at the time of the remeasurement.
Blind checks provide an estimate of measurement repeatability for the program. It
is a complete remeasurement of the plot performed by an independent production
crew. The remeasurement is done without access to the production crews’ data. The
two data sets are maintained separately and no production data are corrected as a
result of these remeasurements.
Continuous Feedback
Continuous improvement in the FIA Program is assured by a variety of internal
feedback procedures. Field QA/QC staff provide feedback to crews following both
hot and cold checks; crew questions are answered by both QA/QC staff as well as
office analysts and other resource experts; end-of-season critiques by field crews
are incorporated into the following year’s protocols; field manual ambiguities are
clarified midseason if necessary; and any data recorder problems or improvements
are often resolved or implemented midseason as well. These measures provide for
greater consistency in field data collection.
For more information on field QA, please visit the FIA national program Web site at
http://fia.fs.fed.us.
Quality Assurance (QA): a process to produce data and results with known
precision, completeness, representativeness, comparability, and, where
appropriate, accuracy. QA encompasses the planning, design, implementation,
analysis, and reporting of data to ensure that the data meet the users’
requirements for data quality.
Quality Control (QC): the routine application of prescribed field or database
procedures to reduce random and systematic errors and ensure that data are
generated, analyzed and interpreted, synthesized, communicated, and used
within known and acceptable performance limits. QC involves the use of
qualified personnel, reliable equipment and supplies, training of personnel, and
adherence to recommended operating procedures.
— Otha Terry, PNW-FIA Technical Information Specialist
Employee Profile
In each issue of our newsletter we profile a team or
an employee and their roles and responsibilities in the
PNW-FIA Program.
Meet Vicente Monleon.
Vicente is a mathematical statistician
trainee on the Environmental Analysis
and Research Team. He is currently
working on his Ph.D. in statistics at
Oregon State University. His duty
station is the Portland Forest Science
Laboratory where he is working
part-time while completing his degree.
Vicente’s main line of research is on development
and evaluation of sampling protocols for riparian
forests. Currently, he is involved in the John Day
Riparian Pilot in a collaborative effort with the
Oregon Department of Forestry to determine the
extent and characteristics of riparian forests in
Oregon. He is also working on statistical modeling
of forest and tree attributes by using hierarchical
and mixed models. Vicente has a BS degree in
forest engineering and an MS in forest ecology.
He has worked as a research assistant at Oregon
State University and for the research branch of the
Spanish Forest Service, as well as odd jobs in Spain,
Canada, Slovakia, and Chile. When he is not working,
he is chasing after his two young children. He is
planning to finish his dissertation and start working
full-time for PNW-FIA within the next several
months
Publications:
Monleon,V.J. 2003. A hierarchical linear model for
tree height prediction. In: Proceedings of the 2003
meeting of the American Statistical Association,
Section on Statistics and the Environment.
Alexandria,VA: 2865-2869.
Monleon,V.J.; Azuma, D.; Gedney, D. 2004. Equations
for predicting uncompacted crown ratio based on
compacted crown ratio and tree attributes. Western
Journal of Applied Forestry. 19: 260-267.
Monleon,V.J.; Gitelman, A.I.; Gray, A.N. 2002. Multiscale relationships between coarse woody debris
and presence/absence of western hemlock in the
Oregon Coast Range. In: Gatsonis, C.; Carriquiry, A.;
Gelman, A.; Higdon, D.; Kaas, R.; Pauler, D.;Verdinelli,
I., eds. Case studies in Bayesian statistics, New York:
Springer Verlag: 311-318.Vol. 6.
Monleon,V.J.; Newton, M.; Hooper, C.,; Tappeiner,
J.C., III. 1999. Ten-year growth response of young
Douglas-fir to variable density varnishleaf ceanothus
and herb competition. Western Journal of Applied
Forestry. 14: 208-213.
To view other publications by Vicente, visit http://
www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia/profiles/ear/vmonleon/pub.
htm.
P A C I F I C
N O R T H W E S T
Forest Inventory & Analysis Quarterly
2005 Client Meeting Summary
The seventh annual client meeting for the PNW
FIA Program was held Tuesday, March 15, 2005,
at historical McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale,
Oregon. The meeting objectives were to share
information about the program, give updates on
the status and recent FIA changes, and give clients
the opportunity to learn more about the program’s
outputs, products, and research. It was also an
opportunity for our clients to give us feedback on how the FIA Program may
best serve their needs. A portion of the meeting was devoted to gathering client
input on the new 2007–2011 national FIA strategic plan.
Seventy people attended the 2005 client meeting, with representatives from
several universities, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
Forest Service Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Research Stations,
Forest Service Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Regions, E.D. Hovee
and Company, Ecotrust, Mason Bruce and Girard, Inc., Oregon Department of
Forestry, National Park Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources,
Washington Hardwood Commission, and Weyerhaeuser Company.
PowerPoint presentations (listed below) shown at the meeting can be viewed on
our PNW-FIA Web site, in the Newsroom: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia. A
few key presentations include:
•
PNW FIA Program News - Sue Willits, PNW-FIA Program Manager
•
Land Use Change and Pending Policy Changes in Oregon - Gary Lettman,
Oregon Department of Forestry, and Jeff Kline, PNW
•
West Coast Forest Products Report – Todd Morgan, University of Montana
•
Pacific Island Inventories – Joe Donnegan, PNW- FIA
•
A Reflection on Regional Forest Health - Bob Wheeler, Alaska Cooperative
Extension Service
— Otha Terry, PNW-FIA Technical Information Specialist
Forest Inventory and Analysis Draft Strategic Plan
In 1998, a strategic plan for the FIA Program was written to comply with Public
Law 105-185, the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of
1998 and recommendations of the Second Blue Ribbon Panel on the FIA Program.
The 1998 strategic plan described how the USDA Forest Service would implement
an annual forest inventory system. The 1998 plan called for annual measurement
of 10 to 20 percent of all plots on all forest land in all states, with a nationally
consistent, core set of measurements and analytical products, and production
of state reports every 5 years. The strategic plan expanded the scope of the
program by combining the FIA Program and the plot portion of the Forest Health
Monitoring (FHM) program into a new FIA Program. The increased efficiency
eliminated duplication between the programs and delivered a more integrated,
easy-to-use database covering a wider array of ecological data about forests.
(continued on page 4)
Issue 3 / Spring 2005
Recent PNW-FIA Publications
Corne, S.A.; Carver S.J.; Kunin W.E.; Lennon,
J.J.; van Hees, W.W.S. 2004. Using artificial
neural network methods to predict forest
characteristics in southeast Alaska. Forest
Science. 50: 259-276.
Fried, J.; Christensen, G. 2004. FIA biosum: a
tool to evaluate financial costs, opportunities
and effectiveness of fuel treatments. Western
Forester. 49(5): 12-13.
Gray, A. 2005. Eight nonnative plants in western
Oregon forests: associations with environment
and management. Environmental Monitoring
and Assessment. 100: 109-127.
Gray, A.N.; Azuma, D.L. 2005. Repeatability and
implementation of a forest vegetation indicator.
Ecological Indicators. 5: 57-71.
Jovan, S.; McCune, B. 2004. Regional variation
in epiphytic macrolichen communities in
northern and central California forests. The
Bryologist. 107(3): 328-339.
Monleon,V.J.; Azuma, D.L.; Gedney, D. 2004.
Equations for predicting uncompacted crown
ratio based on compacted crown ratio and
tree attributes. Western Journal of Applied
Forestry. 19(4): 260-267.
North, M.; Chen, J.; Song, B.; Rudnicki, M.;
Oakley, B.; Gray, A.N.; Innes J. 2004. Forest
stand structure and pattern of old-growth
western hemlock/Douglas-fir and mixedconifer forests. Forest Science. 50(3): 299-311.
Thompson, J. 2004. Trees, houses, and habitat:
private forests at the wildland-urban interface.
Science Findings 68. Portland, OR: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Research Station. 5 p.
van Hees, W.W.S. 2005. Spruce reproduction
dynamics on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, 19872000. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-563. Portland, OR:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Research Station. 18 p
Waddell, K.L.; Barrett, T.M. 2005. Oak
woodlands and other hardwood forests
of California, 1990s. Portland, OR: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Research Station. 94 p.
3
(continued from page 3)
United States
Department
of Agriculture
Additional funding has been provided annually to the FIA Program, but it is not yet
sufficient to fully implement the program.
News for Pacific Northwest Research Station,
Forest Inventory and Analysis Clients, Employees,
and Retirees
We are currently at the end of that plan and in the process of writing a new FIA
strategic plan for 2007-2011. The draft plan includes four major sections:
1.
2.
Forest
Service
Please visit our Web page at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia
Description of the 2005 FIA Program Status – a summary of where the program
stands at the end of the first 5-year period.
Published by the
Pacific Northwest Research Station
P.O. Box 3890
Portland, OR 97208-3890
Program Adjustments for 2006 and Beyond – revisions to initial staffing and
budget assumptions based on what we have learned about implementation over
the past 5 years.
Sally Campbell, Managing Editor
scampbell01@fs.fed.us
(503) 808-2034
3.
Base Federal Program Plans for 2007-2011 – proposed tasks to support and
maintain the base federal FIA Program over the next 5 years.
Otha Terry, Layout
oterry@fs.fed.us
(503) 808-2044
4.
Program Enhancements for 2007-2011 – other program enhancements for which
we believe we hold a competitive advantage and for which we propose to seek
support for adding to our base federal program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits
discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis
of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability,
political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status.
(Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with
disabilities who require alternative means for communication
of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.)
should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600
(voice and TDD).
The draft 2007-2011 Strategic Plan is available on our Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/
pnw/fia/news/draft_strategicplan.pdf. Comments on it can be sent to Susan Willits
(PNW-FIA Program Manager, (503) 808-2066, swillits@fs.fed.us) or Greg Reams (FIA
National Program Manager (703) 605-4189, greams@fs.fed.us.)
— Otha Terry, PNW-FIA Technical Information Specialist
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director,
Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th
and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410
or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal
opportunity provider and employer.
USDA is committed to making its information materials
accessible to all USDA customers and employees.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Pacific Northwest Research Station
Portland Forestry Sciences Laboratory
620 SW Main, Suite 400
P.O. Box 3890
Portland, OR 97208-3890
Quarterly
Forest Inventory
& Analysis
PACIFIC NORTHWEST