Information Needs National Forest System Update

1. Information Needs National Forest System Update 2011 FIA User Group Meeting – Sacramento, CA March 9, 2011 Greg Kujawa NFS, Washington Office

2. Objective • High-Mid Altitude overview • Key current and emerging business requirements

3. FS National Priorities • USDA Strategic Plan Goal 2: “Ensure Our National Forests and Private Working Lands Are Conserved, Restored, and Made More Resilient to Climate Change, While Enhancing Our Water Resources.” • NFS Focus Areas (Elements of Landscape-scale Conservation) • Enhancing Water Resources • Responding to Climate Change • Community-based Stewardship • Jobs to Assist Rural Communities

4. Integration/Alignment Through • Policies • Budget • Business Requirements, Processes, and Tools

5. …in Collaboration with • States • State-wide Forest Resource Assessments and Strategies • Other Federal Agencies • Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) (DOI-USWFW) • Rapid Ecosystem Assessments (BLM) • Tribes, NGOs, Industry

6. Emphasis/Strategic Priorities • Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) • Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation • New Planning Rule • National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy • “Action Plan for the Nation’s Forests and Grasslands” (implements the “all-lands vision”) • America’s Great Outdoors (AGO)

7. Budget Line Item (BLI) Consolidation • Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) BLI • 2012 budget would include: • Forest Products, Vegetation and Watershed Mgt, Wildlife/Fisheries Habitat Mgt, Non-WUI Hazardous Fuels, Legacy Roads/Trails, Road Decommissioning, and CFLRP funds. • Land Management Planning, Assessment, and Monitoring BLI • Combines Land Management Planning with Inventory and Monitoring programs.

8. New and Emerging Business Processes and Tools • Climate Change Roadmap and Scorecard • Planning Rule direction on assessments and monitoring • Landscape Conservation Frameworks • Five Region/Station/Area Partnerships • Watershed Condition Framework • Terrestrial Ecological Integrity Index

9. Climate Change Scorecard • Will help implement the Roadmap and respond to USDA Strategic Plan Goal 2. • 10 Yes/No questions. • 7 “yes” answers needed by 2015. • Four scorecard elements relevant to FIA.

10. Element 6 • Vulnerability Assessment • Has information relevant to management actions at the Unit level been developed and synthesized to assess the vulnerability of key resources to the impacts of climate change and other stressors?

11. Element 7 • Adaptation Activities • Is an adaptation strategy in place that helps incorporate the vulnerability of resources and places into priority setting and management actions?

12. Element 8 • Monitoring • Is monitoring being conducted to track climate-related changes in conditions of species, watershed condition, forest and grassland health, and other measures, and the effectiveness of adaptation activities?

13. Element 9 • Carbon Assessment • Has information relevant to the Unit level been developed and synthesized to assess carbon stocks and the influence of land management activities and disturbances on potential changes in carbon stocks?

14. Planning Rule (proposed) • Establishes a 2-tier framework for assessments and monitoring: • Broad scale • Local unit scale

15. Planning Rule (proposed) • Regional Offices will have a major role to play. • Assessments • Identify and evaluate information needed to understand existing conditions, trends, and stressors. • Monitoring • The status of select watershed conditions, select ecological conditions, focal species, etc. • Measurable changes on the unit related to climate change and other stressors. • The carbon stored in above-ground vegetation. • RFs shall develop broader-scale monitoring strategies.

16. Watershed Condition Framework • Assessments conducted at 6th HUC scale • Apply 12 core national indicators

17. Watershed Condition Framework • Note: 6th HUC watersheds are generally too fine to use FIA data, but… • Two indicators use FIA data: • Forest Health : FHP I& D Risk Map • Fire Regime Condition (FRCC): LANDFIRE

18. National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy • Fire-adapted communities • Response to wildfire • Restore and maintain resilient landscapes • Interagency effort (WFLC) • Phase II - Regional Strategies and Assessments (NE, SE, West)

19. Common Elements • Assessments • Monitoring • Geographic Scale • Broad scale (regional) or higher

20. Next Steps • Development continuing on guidance for: • Scorecard elements • Planning Rule assessments and monitoring • Terrestrial Ecological Integrity Index. • Principles: • Identify specific info needs (INA). • What are the management or policy questions? • Use existing data systems. • Align/integrate among national efforts.

21. Next Steps • Agency-wide vegetation information management strategy needs to be developed. • To increase efficiency, data scalability, supports public collaboration, and transparency. • SLMBOD is directing this effort. • Process proposed to be piloted with invasive plants.

22. Issues and Challenges • Future budgets • Data gaps • Veg data across all lands. • Interagency collaboration

23. Questions?