1. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About TPO and Biomass
Todd Morgan – University of Montana
James Bentley, Ron Piva, Chris Woodall – FIA
Biomass/Bioenergy Workshop
February 24th 2010

2. What is TPO?
TPO is the part of FIA that provides information on removals for timber products, timber processors, logging residue, and mill residue.
Accomplished with:
Logging utilization studies
Mill surveys
Firewood and other studies
P2 data
As most of you are probably aware, TPO is…
And we accomplish these tasks primarily by…
Mill surveys or censuses
In the South & North with plot data
And
Logging utilization studies

3. Areas of interest: Forest Logging utilization studies
Timber product & logging residue portions of removals
Felled tree size, species, & un/used proportions
Equipment & operator characteristics
Facility
Mill studies
Volume, species, owner, & other characteristics of wood received for industrial use
Facility location, size, & other characteristics
Any facility using roundwood or chipped logs

4. Current Situation North:
No FIA logging utilization studies since 1990s
(sporadic FS/university studies – 1 or 2 states)
States on 3 & 5-year cycles (mill surveys)
Annual pulpwood & composite mill surveys
South:
Current logging utilization (2005-today) 13 states
States on 1, 2, or 3-year cycle (mill surveys)
Annual pulpwood mill surveys
West:
Periodic logging utilization (2002-current) 3 states
States on 2 or 5-year cycles (mill surveys including pulpwood & composite)

5. Current Situation - facilities
Biomass energy & other rare or emerging facility types currently captured during “mill” censuses, if:
Use roundwood
Use primary mill residue (west)
Actually operating

6. Current Situation Logging utilization studies:
Recent results indicate substantial changes in utilization since 1980s & 1990s.
South and West use very similar methodologies.
South has new data recorder (MIDAS architecture) – national capabilities.

7. Softwood Stem Sections
Sawtimber Tree
(dbh ≥ 9.0 inches)
Poletimber Tree
( inches dbh)
Top
4 inches dob
Top
This figure shows the growing-stock vs. non-growing stock portions of softwood trees—as defined by the USFS FIA Program.
G.S. is the focus of the logging utilization studies, where we develop factors that will quantify the impact of harvest activities on G.S. volume.
GROWING STOCK: the portion of (live trees at least 5.0” DBH) from a 1’ stump to a 4.0” DOB.
NON-GROWING STOCK: includes parts of live trees (at least 5.0” DBH), below the 1’ stump and above the 4” top, including minor limbs.
Growing-stock volume (ft3)
4 inches dob
Growing-stock volume (ft3)
1-foot stump

8. Current Situation – Complications
Reporting:
Lack of control over data collection
Too few (<3) facilities/firms to report as stand-alone product
Survey cycle length – here today gone tomorrow
Sufficient database structure to handle emerging products
Antiquated terminology

9. Discussion Topics What are your biomass-related TPO questions?
What do you need that TPO does not produce?
What are your suggestions for TPO?
TPO incorporated into NIMS
Units of measure
Terminology
Etc.