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Wisconsin's Forest Inventory Programs

Forest inventory programs provide critical data that allow managers and users of forests to better understand the current status and trends over time in a variety of forest characteristics. Information such as forest area, forest age, forest health concerns, tree volume and biomass, tree and soil carbon, as well as other economic and ecological data related to forests can be monitored over time. Wisconsin has four statewide forest inventory programs that allow public and private resource managers, businesses, and citizens to better understand the dynamics that occur in our changing forests over time.

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)

Since 1930, the USDA Forest Service has been surveying, analyzing and reporting on the health and productivity of America's forests, including those in Wisconsin. Known as the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA), the program serves as the nation's and the state's forest "census" by providing consistent data on the status of forest land.

Generate forestry status and trends reports using Forest Inventory and Analysis [exit DNR] online tools.

Check out this video introduction [exit DNR] to the FIA program.

Wisconsin's Continuous Forest Inventory (WisCFI)

The Wisconsin Continuous Forest Inventory (WisCFI) collects and reports on the condition of Wisconsin's state forests in a statistically rigorous manner. The data is collected using a similar methodology to FIA, a system of permanent plots that are revisited every five years to track the status and trends of forested conditions on an annual basis.

Wisconsin Urban Forest Assessment (WisUFA)

The Wisconsin Urban Forest Assessment (WisUFA) Program is being developed in partnership with the USDA Forest Service to collect and report on the condition of Wisconsin’s urban forests. The program consists of the following components:

  • Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis (UFIA) program: a continuous plot-based inventory;
  • Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) assessment; and
  • Wisconsin Community Tree Map: the aggregation of existing public and private tree inventories.

Forest Regeneration Monitoring (FRM)

The Forest Regeneration Monitoring (FRM) Program is a program first implemented in 2018 to evaluate regeneration on recently harvested public and private forests across the state. The data is collected using the Forest Regeneration Metric. Data is collected in individual stands that have been recently harvested, and collects samples more intensively to provide county-specific forest regeneration data with goals including informing County Deer Advisory Councils (CDACs) and wildlife resource managers, assisting the development of regeneration standards, monitoring long-term changes and more.