United States
Department of
Agriculture
Forest
Service
Forest
Management
Service
Center
Forest Management
Service Center Biometrics Group
Annual Staff Report
Fiscal Year 2015
About Us
The Forest Management Service Center (FMSC), located in Fort Collins, Colorado, is a detached unit of
the USDA Forest Service National Forest System Forest Management Staff, Washington Office. The
Service Center provides mensuration, statistical, modeling, biometric, sampling, and analysis skills to the
Forest Service and also cooperates and works in partnership with other government agencies (federal,
tribal and state), research, colleges and universities, forest industry, consultants, and individuals in the
United States and other countries. The FMSC is staffed with biometric and mensuration specialists
possessing skills not available at most regional and forest level offices and is considered an extension of
each region’s technical staff.
Our Program Emphasis
We provide products and technical support for forest vegetation modeling and forest products
measurement to the National Forests and our partners.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex,
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).
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW,
Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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Timber Tips, a publication for the field describing
helpful ttips and information, was resurrected this
year and will continue to be a semi-annual
publication.
Message from the FMSC Center
Manager
The Biometrics Group of the Forest Management
Service Center includes the Forest Products
Measurement Group and the Forest Vegetation
Simulator Group (FVS).
The Forest Vegetation Simulator
(FVS) is the US Forest Service’s
nationally supported framework
ensuring consistency among forests in
vegetation growth and yield modeling. One of our
most important goals is to maintain, enhance, and
support the FVS code. This includes the base
model as well as the Fire and Fuels extension (FFE)
and other extensions. Recent efforts include
improved prediction of sprouting following harvest
or fire, significant improvements to the WRENSS
water yield post processor, and development of an
online version of FVS that operates through a web
browser. The staff also provides Regions with
regionally specific improvements, including
implementing ORGANON-FVS variants for
Oregon and northern California, and continues
work on the incorporation of the REGEN model
into the Southern (SN) variant.
The Forest Products Measurement
group maintains a suite of programs
related to cruising, scaling, volume and
biomass estimation, and area
determination.
In FY15, our re-engineered national cruising
software, Version 2.0, was released for general field
use. FScruiser has many new features requested by
the field to make data entry more efficient. Cruise
Processing utilizes the new Biomass Estimator
Library and has new graphical reports. Cruise
Manager is a new program handling cruise file
establishment, data editing and component cruiser
creation and merging for use with multiple data
recorders. Training for the new software was
provided at the Advanced Cruiser Training
sessions, at a formal training in Region 5, and by
using virtual training technology.
The FVS carbon reports continue to be an important
part of many projects. We continue to work with
the group that published the “USDA Entity-Scale
GHG Methods Report for Forestry and Agriculture”
with the intent of integrating FVS into the system
used for estimating various aspects of greenhouse
gas fluxes.
The FMSC is working with the Regions, research,
FIA, and outside cooperatives to continue
developing and validating biomass equations and
weight factors to be incorporated within the
National Biomass Estimator Library, which
provides componentized estimates of biomass
material for the bole, branches, crown, stump, and
bark in both dry and green tons.
The FVS Steering Team continues to provide
strategic guidance in the development and
enhancement of FVS. The Steering Team helps
direct the program of work for the FVS staff and
acts as a valuable networking group and a means to
ensure incorporation of the best available science
into FVS.
Support for the area determination chapter of the
Timber Cruising Handbook (FSH 2409.12, Chap.
50) continues as National Forests implement the
new direction. The field personnel are finding
ingenious ways to work using the new allowances
of the handbook, ways to create safety for the crew
members, combine polylines, decrease office work,
avoid surveying common boundaries twice, and
more.
Many important partnerships continue, including
work with Virginia Tech to expand Climate-FVS to
the eastern US, and work with BLM, BIA, and
NRCS in support of FVS modernization efforts.
Dave Cawrse
The Service Center has partnered with the FremontWinema NF and The Nature Conservancy on a pilot
project to esplore the use of virtual boundaries
using GPS on harvesting equipment.
Biometrics Group Leader, Forest
Management Service Center
Future projects include exploring cost effective
methods for cruising biomass material, including
the use of UASs.
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Forest Products Measurement
The Service Center is partnering with FHTET
and Region 3 on a project to use an Unmanned
Aerial System (UAS) to take large scale aerial
photography to assist in identifying insect
damage and to assist in cruising using the 3P
Remote Sensing cruise method. This project is
one of the first uses of UASs for the Forest
Service and is scheduled for completion in
FY16.
The Forest Products Measurement staff supports
the forest product sales program. Our primary
responsibilities are developing and applying
practical and efficient methods of timber
cruising, scaling, volume estimation, and area
determination that are accurate, consistent, and
defensible. We maintain a suite of programs
related to cruising, scaling, volume estimation,
and area determination and provide
measurements support and training to the field.
We also coordinate the National Measurements
Steering Committee which meets annually and
provides direction for the measurements group.
Timber Tips, a publication for the field
describing helpful ttips and information, was
resurrected this year and will continue to be a
semi-annual publication.
Cruising
Volume and Biomass
Estimation
Timber cruising is the process
of measuring forest stands to
determine stand characteristics,
such as average tree sizes,
volume, and quality. The
primary purpose of cruising is
to obtain a volume estimate to appraise and
prepare timber sales and stewardship contracts.
The National Volume Estimator
Library is a collection of standing
tree volume estimators used by the
Forest Service and contains the
research publications, descriptions
of the implementation process, and
the computer source code. The National
Biomass Estimator Library (NBEL) provides
componentized estimates of biomass material for
the bole, branches, crown, stump, and bark in
both dry and green tons. Both libraries are fully
integrated within the reengineered National
Cruise Software and are also available as an
Excel Plug-ins.
The FMSC is working with the Regions,
research, FIA, and outside cooperatives to
continue developing and validating biomass
equations and weight factors to be incorporated
within the NBEL. A new Volume/Biomass
Validation Program designed to assist the field
with the validation of existing volume and
biomass estimators was released this year and is
now available for use.
In FY15, our re-engineered national cruising
software, Version 2.0, was released for general
field use. FScruiser has many new features
requested by the field to make data entry more
efficient. Cruise Processing utilizes the new
Biomass Estimator Library and has new
graphical reports and can export data into
common separated files (CSV) for import into
Excel. Cruise Manager is a new program
handling cruise file establishment, data editing,
and component cruise creation and merging for
use with multiple data recorders. The software
continues to be modified as new features are
proposed.
Training for the new software was provided at
the Advanced Cruiser Training sessions, at a
formal training in Region 5, and by using virtual
training technology.
Legacy software tools were maintained
throughout FY15 with maintenance continuing
throughout FY16. Legacy software tools will
eventually be phased out as older mobile devices
are replaced.
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addressing specific concerns. The Service
Center will continue to utilize virtual training
technology in FY16.
Scaling
Scaling is the determination of
the gross and net volume of
logs. The primary purpose of
scaling is to determine the
volume by product or species to be charged at a
predetermined rate.
Measurements Steering Team
The measurements group maintains the FSscaler
field data collection software and the Scale
Expansion Program which furnishes data for the
Timber Sale Accounting system.
The National Measurements Steering Committee
met last winter to provide direction for the
measurements group. The Service Center has
been coordinating with the Regions on
reengineering the cruising software to work with
Windows 7 and new generations of field data
recorders.
Area Determination
Important Partnerships
Area determination is
quantitatively measuring land area
using GPS or traditional traverse
methods, or both. We continue to
work with the Missoula
Technology and Development
Center (MTDC) supporting procedures using
GPS and other surveying techniques in Forest
Service operations including expanding the
Accuracy Matrix for the various GPS units.
Developing and maintaining partnerships with
natural resource agencies outside of the Service
Center is important to provide consistent
measurements support across the nation. Besides
the National Forests, we are working with state,
tribal, other federal agencies, educational
institutions, Forest Service Research Stations,
private individuals and companies on diverse
measurements issues including biomass
estimation and area determination.
Support for the area determination chapter of the
Timber Cruising Handbook (FSH 2409.12,
Chap. 50) continues as National Forests
implement the new direction. The field
personnel are finding ingenious ways to work
using the new allowances of the handbook; ways
to create safety for the crew members, combine
polylines, decrease office work, avoid surveying
common boundaries twice, and more.
Nearly all land management agencies involved
with area and timber measurement currently use
our software (BLM, BIA, National Park Service,
Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of
Defense), as well as five state forestry agencies.
Gary Boyack continues to serve on the national
Mobile GPS Technology Advisory Group
(MGTAG), which looks at developing a
consistent policy to manage GPS as a national
asset. Ken Cormier continues to serve as the US
Forest Service Representative on the Scaling
Primary Forest Products committee of the
Canadian Standards Association. Yingfang
Wang became a member of the FIA Biomass
Working Group working with Forest Service
and University personnel to develop and validate
biomass equations. Matt Oberle continues to
serve on the Unmanned Aerial System Advisory
Group (UASAG), the National Windows Mobile
Advisory Group, and the National Mobile
Hardware Review Team.
The Service Center has partnered with the
Fremont-Winema NF and the Nature
Conservancy on a pilot project to explore the use
of virtual boundaries using GPS on harvesting
equipment.
Many training sessions on the new changes to
Chapter 50 have been completed successfully
using Video Teleconferencing technology and
Lync Communicator. These training sessions
included: introductions to Area Determination;
field and office practices using current
advantages of the handbook with any mobile
software; introductions and intermediate use of
TwoTrails; and individualized sessions
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Customer Support
In FY15, the measurements staff participated or assisted in training Advanced Cruisers from several
Regions. Additional training on TwoTrails and new area determination procedures was provided to the
Regions in a combination of virtual training and field visits.
% of
The measurements staff continues to average about 30 hotline
Contact
contacts
contacts, emails and phone calls per week related to volume,
biomass, cruising, scaling, and area determination questions from
all regions of the Forest Service and other government agencies,
as well as state agencies, universities, and private consultants.
A check cruiser workshop was held in October on the topic of
Collecting Data to Develop and Validate Volume and Biomass
Equations in partnership with the FIA Biomass Working Group.
Attendees utilized several different techniques for collecting
volume and biomass field data and tested the new
Volume/Biomass Validation Program.
Forest Service
85
Other Gov. Agencies
5
State/University
5
Private
5
Future Initiatives and Projects
Future projects include expanding the biomass estimator library and exploring cost effective
methods for cruising biomass material, including the use of UASs. We will continue to
support all software components within the National Cruise System. In FY16, we will begin
to look at providing versions of our data collection software to run on the Android operating
system. Cruiser cetification maintenance training will continue to be developed for AgLearn
to assist in cost effective training. We will continue to explore and use virtual training
technology to provide timely and cost effective training to the field. We will examine new procedures
and new technology to promote efficiency and safety to our users in the field.
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Forest Vegetation Simulation (FVS)
The FVS Steering Team continues to provide
strategic guidance in the development and
enhancement of FVS. The eighth annual
meeting was held in April in Fort Collins. The
Steering Team helps direct the program of work
for the FVS staff and acts as a valuable
networking group and a means to ensure
incorporation of the best available science into
FVS. Based on recommendations from the
previous Steering Team meeting we have
enhanced the uneven-age management options,
begun development of the online version of
FVS, and begun working on a widely applicable
understory model.
The Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) is a
forest dynamics model simulating growth and
mortality for most tree species, forest types, and
stand conditions found in the United States.
FVS can simulate a wide range of silvicultural
treatments, fire, insects, diseases, and other
disturbances. It can calculate volumes,
densities, stocking levels, harvest yields,
biomass amounts, carbon allocations, fuel loads,
fire effects, and many other metrics.
National Support
At the national level, one of our
most important goals is to maintain,
enhance, and support the FVS code.
This includes the base model as
well as the Fire and Fuels
Extension (FFE) and other
extensions. Here are just a few highlights of our
national efforts:
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Regional and Forest Support
We provide FVS
support to all
Regions and
National Forests for
planning efforts,
project work, and
more. Here are just a few highlights of our
regional support efforts over the past year:
Improved the prediction of sprouting
following harvest or fire;
Created a new keyword for designating
leave species for harvest;
Made significant improvements to the
WRENSS water yield post processor;
Conducted several instructional webinars
and made the recordings available through
the FVS website;
Made significant enhancements to the
application program interface (API) to FVS;
Began development of an online version of
FVS that operates through a web browser.
•
•
The FVS carbon reports continue to be an
important part of many projects. We continue to
work with the group that published the “USDA
Entity-Scale GHG Methods Report for Forestry
and Agriculture” with the intent of integrating
FVS into the system used for estimating various
aspects of greenhouse gas fluxes.
Assisted Region 8 with Forest Plan Revision
efforts;
Coded new crown biomass distribution
algorithms for the Central Rockies (CR)
variant;
•
Officially released two ORGANON-FVS
variants for Oregon and northern California;
•
Continued work on the incorporation of the
REGEN model into the Southern (SN)
variant. The REGEN model was developed
at the Southern Research Station.
•
Continued work on improvement of the
mortality algorithms for the Pacific
Northwest (PN) and Westside Cascades
(WC) variants.
Important Partnerships
We maintained, supported and upgraded the
Suppose interface, as well as several FVS preand post-processing programs. All FVS
documentation was kept up-to-date.
Our partners include Forest Service Research
Stations as well as universities and other land
management agencies, including the BLM and
BIA. Some of our important partners and
projects this year included:
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•
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Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA): began
coordination on the development of a new
tool to translate FIA data into FVS-ready
data files.
Rocky Mountain Research Station: assisted
with FVS, FFE, Climate Change
development, and API and stop-restart
capability;
Northern Research Station: assisted with
FFE carbon reporting;
Southern Research Station: assisted with
integration of the REGEN model into FVS;
NRM-FSVEG staff: maintaining the FSVeg
DB_Link utility, which is the FVS data link
with the FSVEG database;
Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team
(FHTET): maintained and enhanced FVS
insect and disease extensions;
Virginia Technological University:
continued work to expand Climate-FVS to
the eastern US;
Bureau of Land Management (BLM):
supported the FVS architecture change and
continues to support the incorporation of
ORGANON algorithms into FVS.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA): supported
the FVS architecture change;
Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
Department of Defense (DOD), State and
•
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Private Forestry (S&PF), and University of
Alaska: continued coordination on
development work on the Alaska boreal
forest (interior) FVS variant;
Pacific Northwest Research Station:
developed new small tree growth algorithms
and mortality modeling.
Michigan Technological University:
developed new diameter growth algorithms
for the FVS Lake States and Central States
variants.
Colorado State University: developed new
crown biomass equations for the western
US;
ESSA Technologies: continued
improvements to interconnectivity of FVS
with other software systems.
Forest Management Service Center (FMSC)
Contracting Group: collaborated on timber
theft issues when requested.
Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA), Pacific
Northwest Research Station, Rocky
Mountain Research Station, Northern
Research Station, Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS), and Forest Health Technology
Enterprise Team (FHTET): provided
members of the FVS Steering Team.
Customers
In addition to the Forest Service, other users of FVS
software include the Bureau of Land Management, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, the
Department of Defense, and other federal agencies, as
well as state and tribal agencies, educational institutions,
private companies, and individuals. FVS software has
been increasingly used internationally to model forest
dynamics and for carbon accounting.
Customer Support
0During the past year we conducted seven week-long,
formal FVS classes with 133 students, 21 of which were in
the National Advanced Silvicultural Program (NASP).
Approximately 30% of the students were non-Forest
Service employees. Several shorter training sessions,
educational presentations, workshops, and webinars were
also conducted, bringing the total number of people trained
to well over 200.
Training documentation was updated to reflect changes in
software and methodologies. Bulletins were sent out
announcing each software release. The FMSC web site was
kept current with software and documentation updates.
The FVS staff provides hotline support during normal working
hours on all federal workdays. Requests come in the form of
phone calls, emails, instant messages, and personal visits. We
answered more than 800 support requests, requiring over 500
hours of staff time. More than half of the support was
provided to the Forest Service, including employees from every National Forest System Region, every
Research Station, and the Washington Office.
Future Initiatives and Projects
For FY16, in addition to the on-going activities of model maintenance, enhancements, and
training, our future initiativves and projects include: continuing development of a national
understory vegetation model with the Rangeland Vegetation Simulator (RVS) group at the
Rocky Mountain Research Station; improved mortality algorithms for the Southeastern
Region; full integration with the National Biomass Estimator Library; incorporation of the
REGEN model developed by the Southern Research Station; continued development of an
online version of FVS; and many more projects..
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Forest Management Service
Center, Biometrics Staff
Dave Cawrse, Biometrics Group Leader
Mike Van Dyck, FVS Group Leader
Chris Dahl, FVS Model Support, Training
Lance David, Insect and Disease Model
Development, Training
Bob Havis, FVS Programming, Support
Chad Keyser, FVS Model Support, Training
Stephanie Rebain, Fire and Fuels Model
Development, Training
Erin Smith-Mateja, FVS Model Support, Training
Zach Wehr, Student Intern
Front L to R: Bob Havis, Matt Oberle, Dave Cawrse, Chris Dahl,
Yingfang Wang, Chad Keyser.
Back L to R: Gary Boyack, Lance David, Mike Van Dyck,
Stephanie Rebain, Erin Smith-Mateja.
Not pictured: Mike Shettles, Zach Wehr
Behind the camera: Barbara Menzel
Ken Cormier, Measurements Group Leader
Gary Boyack, Forest Product Measurement Support
Barbara Menzel, Cruise Processing Programming
Support, Training Support
Matt Oberle, Field Data Collection Programming Support
Mike Shettles, Forest Biometrician
Yingfang Wang, Volume and Biomass Estimation Support
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