NIMAC Status

1. NIMAC Status Randy Morin and Chip Scott

2. Today’s Topics • NIMAC Background • States • National Forest System • International • Toolkit

3. NIMAC Background • National Inventory and Monitoring Applications Center (NIMAC) • Mission: • To develop leading-edge forest ecosystem monitoring methods and tools to help FIA and its customers monitor forests, resulting in compatible results across the landscape. Methods and software tools are designed for use by land managers and across ownerships at landscape to national scales, but will also provide added flexibility to FIA.

4. States: Wisconsin • Contract crews are in the third panel of the second cycle of data collection on their 514,000 ac. • The second remeasured panel is now being processed by NIMAC and UNLV cooperators • WisFIDO is being upgraded to the new FIA FIDO version: http://wiscfi.fiatools.us/fido/index.html • Data and estimates for the first remeasured panel are available using PC EVALIDator, including some P3 data.

5. States: Indiana • State crews are completing the first panel of the second cycle on their 150,000 ac of state land. • Plots are paneled by 1,000 ac compartments. We are using this concept in the NFI of Peru. • IN DNR expanded the system to 600,000 ac of private conservation lands. • We prepared a PC version of NIMS so they can process the data themselves. • NIMAC has trained IN DNR on processing the data for use in PC EVALIDator.

6. States: Missouri • Missouri crews have finished the third season of fieldwork on 600,000 ac of State Forest land. Fieldwork is done during the “off season.” • MDC adopted the Wisconsin model of having NIMAC and UNLV do all the processing with NIMS and provide the results using PC EVALIDator. • We are starting to process the data now.

7. National Forest System • NIMAC worked with R9 so that the sample on all Forests is intensified (2X or 3X). • Region 8 has intensified some Forests and contracted with Ray Sheffield (retired SRS-FIA) to aid them with analysis. • Working with Region 10 (Tongass National Forest) • NFS continues to fund the development of the Design and Analysis Toolkit for Inventory and Monitoring (DATIM).

8. International: Growing need for monitoring globally • Primary factor is the financial incentives of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus), but others include timber production and conservation of biodiversity. • USAID & State Dept. are funding the FS, USGS, NASA, Smithsonian Inst., and EPA to provide technical assistance to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Viet Nam, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, and Gabon • Goal is to reduce carbon emissions and to encourage sustainable use of forests to help keep them as forests.

9. What is FIA doing about it? • FIA’s role is to provide technical assistance and training, not to do the work. • NIMAC coordinates the technical assistance for the FS. • Skills Roster – about 60 folks have signed up on the skills roster to provide technical assistance. • Built an optimal plot design tool which factors in both cost and precision.

10. Toolkit • Developed portable data recorder program (modern version of TALLY). We gave training in Honduras, Peru, Vietnam and Gabon. • DATIM version 1.2 is now being tested, but is not yet available outside the Forest Service. • Web version of the Design Tool for Inventory and Monitoring (DTIM) now includes NFS Planning Rule. • The Analytical Tool for Inventory and Monitoring (ATIM) and the Spatial Intersection Tool (SIT) are being integrated to facilitate spatial analyses.

11. Summary • NIMAC’s role is growing, especially in the international arena • States – continuing in MO and WI. Talking with MA & NY. • National Forest System – DATIM funding continues but involvement with R8 & R9 has diminished. • International – developing documentation, training and tools • Toolkit – DATIM is testing version 1.2.

12. Questions / Comments Randy Morin FIA-NIMAC USDA Forest Service 11 Campus Blvd., Suite 200 Newtown Square, PA 19073 610-557-4054 rsmorin@fs.fed.us