1. Current Budgetary Challenges for FS R&D and FIA Richard W. Guldin Director, Quantitative Sciences USDA Forest Service 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting Sacramento. CA Richard W. Guldin Director, Quantitative Sciences USDA Forest Service 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting Sacramento. CA

2. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 2 BLUF: Bottom Line, Up Front The current federal budgetary situation is very fluid. It appears highly likely that a substantial funding reduction will be imposed on the FIA program in FY 2011. The fluid budgetary environment has led us to some serious rethinking about what the “core FIA program” is that we will deliver in FY 2011 and FY 2012. If substantial funding reductions become reality, I propose two core strategies to our FIA stakeholders for FYs 2011 & 2012: Maintain a consistent national program--active in all 50 states Continue with an annualized inventory Delivering these two strategies will require us to sharpen the focus of the FIA program by redefining: The national core data to be collected and The analyses, reporting, and techniques research to be conducted

3. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 3 R&D Budget Overview FS R&D Appropriation (million dollars) FY 2010 Enacted FY 2011 Pres. Budget FY 2011 House Bill HR-1 FY 2012 Pres. Budget Change FY 2010 to 2012 PB Strategic R&D Programs $245.073 $233.834-$11.239 Forest Inventory & Analysis Program $66.939 $61.939 -$5.000 FS R&D Appropriation $312.012 $295.773 -$16.239 Other FS Funding for Research Programs National Fire Plan$23.917 $21.734-$2.183 Joint Fire Sciences Program $8.000 $7.262-$0.738 S&PF: Grants to States for FIA $5.035 $0.000-$5.035 Total FS Funding for Research Programs $348.964 $324.916 -$24.195

4. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 4 FY 2012 R&D Program Focus Maintain critical research on:  Nanotechnology; bio-energy, and bio-mass management  Watershed restoration  Forest restoration and forest resiliency, including selected silviculture, forest management, forest products, and forest operations research Significant realignments in other research priorities will occur:  Synthesize mature fire research and end it  Focus pest research on invasive species; reduce work on established pests  Reduce recreation research that can be done by others with local forest dollars  Reduce research on traditional game and fish species  Reduce inventory and monitoring research of threatened, endangered, and sensitive species that have reached stable management solutions  Reduce low priority air quality and atmospheric interactions research Where possible, emphasize research that creates jobs and captures efficiencies

5. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 5 FIA Program Funding for FY 2012 Total Federal Funding FY 2010 Enacted FY 2011 Estimate FY 2012 President’s Budget Change from FY 2011 R&D Appropriation$66.939 $61.939-$5.000 S&PF Appropriation$5.035 $0-$5.035 Total Federal Funding for FIA $71.974 $61.939 -$10.035 In FY 2010, FIA partners contributed +$7.5 million of cash and in-kind support to the FIA program  9% in additional program funding In FY 2010, the FIA program provided $13.9 million in grants and cooperative agreements to fund partners to:  Collect data  Develop new inventory methods, and  Conduct analyses State governments’ funding situations and the FY 2012 proposal puts these partnerships at significant risk

6. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 6 FIA Program Highlights For FY 2010 Active for the first time in all 50 States Only missing Interior Alaska Nearly achieved goal of 1998 Farm Bill Online data less than 2 years old for 42 States plus coastal Alaska 3-5 years old in FL, NC, and MS More than 5 years old in NV, WY, NM, LA, interior Alaska, HI Started double-intensity inventories on National Forests in the South, through Region 8 contributions Data collection productivity and quality remains high 19,272 P2 plots visited by field crews; 1,204 included enhanced forest health data 9% of P2 plots revisited by QA/QC crews

7. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 7 More FY 2010 FIA Program Highlights Federal-State partnership is productive and highly efficient 392 federal employees 205 State employees & contractors 203 publications; 74 in peer-reviewed journals 10 user group meetings 423 spatial data requests 991 expert consultations 260 weeks of assistance State reports less than 5 years old: 18 of 24 NRS States 10 of 13 SRS States 3 of 5 PNW States 3 of 8 RMRS States 104,676 on-line FIA database downloads

8. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 8 Key Projects Completed in FY 2010 Six-state study for Secretary Vilsack identified renewable energy opportunities Potential of woody biomass in South Carolina as a sustainable biofuel supply Maps of young forests supported wildlife conservation in Upper Lakes States Non-native invasive plant distributions in South were documented in “Top 50 Most Cited Papers” FIA data showed that structural and compositional diversity have little effect on stand productivity in Ponderosa pine forests Rebutted a commonly held hypothesis that diverse stands are always more productive Identified tree and stand-level conditions that promote Phellinus tremulae fungus attack in aspen stands FIA data plus Landsat imagery were used to: Map forest age in California, Oregon, and Washington; improved estimates and understanding of regional forest carbon dynamics Make national estimates of biomass losses and accumulation resulting from forest disturbances and regrowth Lichen community indicator data were used to estimate N-deposition critical loads for western forests

9. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 9 Status of FY 2011 FIA Funding The R&D Appropriation total in HR-1 is exactly the same as the FY 2011 President’s Budget In the President’s Budget justification, we noted that $2 million of the $5 million reduction was for intensification of FIA plots on/adjacent to Experimental Forests. We intend to implement this reduction and stop EF&R plot intensification. The remaining $3 million reduction we will need to take will require immediate program adjustments the next 6 months. We intend to alter field work, because half of our program cost is data collection. Total Federal Funding FY 2010 Enacted FY 2011 Pres. Budg. FY 2011 CR Bill HR-1 5.035 Change from FY 2010 R&D Appropriation$66.939$61.939 -$5.000 S&PF Appropriation$5.035 -$0 Total Federal Funding for FIA $71.974$66.974 -$5.000

10. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 10 What We Think Users Want … Set two prime strategic goals: Maintain a consistent national program—active in all 50 states Continue with an annualized inventory Manage FY 2011 activities towards the future funding outlined in the FY 2012 President’s Budget. Proposals to be considered include: Critically evaluate what data and analyses we can no longer afford at a reduced funding level Terminate external research & applications linked to them Move key forest health measures to the summer P2 sub- panels (e.g., soils, “light” versions of down woody materials and vegetation), because they contribute to carbon analyses Make other P3 measures regionally optional (e.g., crowns, lichens, ozone), dependent on “soft” funding Reduce the number of plots measured each year Are these in sync with users’ thinking? Are there other options?

11. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 11 Topics for Discussion Additional presentations today and tomorrow by FIA headquarters staff and regional program managers will delve more deeply into potential adjustments for FY 2011 and 2012 We very much value your input on the tactical steps we will propose to take: To respond to FY 2011 funding levels proposed in HR-1 To retain flexibility to respond to whatever FY 2012 funding level ultimately emerges We feel that the urgency of the FY 2011 funding level requires us to take immediate steps this field season If users have other options they’d like us to consider, now is the time to lay them on the table

12. 2011 FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Sacramento, CASlide # 12 What Does the Future Hold for FIA? I foresee a different FIA program...

13. rguldin@fs.fed.us www.fia.fs.fed.us rguldin@fs.fed.us www.fia.fs.fed.us