It’s difficult to manage a resource when you don’t know how much you have. That’s especially true of forest land, so the U.S. Forest Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation are teaming up to inventory Missouri’s forests.
Crews of foresters are now measuring plots on private, state and federal land to determine the changes in the forest since the last survey in 1989. To get an accurate picture of what is happening in the state, the crews sample all ownership and forest types. Permission is always obtained before entering private land. The crews inventory tree species, volume, growth, mortality and health on each of the plots. From this information, statewide estimates of forest area, timber volume and growth can be developed. Forest inventory information is important to the foresters who manage Missouri’s constantly changing forest land. It provides the data they need for planning, protection and program development. It is also used to advise private landowners and forest industries.
The first state wide forest inventory was completed in 1947. Later surveys were completed in 1959, 1972 and 1989. Inventory data quickly became outdated in the 12 to 17 years between periodic surveys. The 1998 Farm Bill changed the periodic surveys to annual inventories.
This year the inventory crews working in Missouri will measure 20% of the 3,500 plots in the state. Each year they will measure a new 20% of the plots until all are completed. The cycle will then be repeated. A summary of the inventory data will be compiled each year and a final report for Missouri will be produced every five years.
Missouri’s forests provide many benefits such as recreation, wildlife habitat, clean air and water and forest products. The forest inventory gives land managers another tool to help insure we will always have healthy, productive forests.