Note that the data published in the 2002 State of the Nation’s Ecosystems Report as well as the 2003 and 2005 Web-Only Updates have been superseded by the 2008 Report and thus should be used with caution. For the most recent data, purchase the 2008 Report from Island Press.

The Data

Data Source: Data reported here are from the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) program. FHM, a component of the Forest Service’s Forest Health Protection program, is a national program designed to determine the status, changes, and trends in indicators of forest condition on an annual basis. The program uses data from ground plots and surveys, aerial surveys, and other data sources and develops analytical approaches. See http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/fhm/index.htm.

Data on forest fire acreage in national forests (referenced in text) was included in the 1999 Heinz Center prototype for this report (Heinz, 1999), and is from the General Accounting Office (GAO, 1999).

Data on acreage affected by diseases/parasites were obtained from “Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in the United States” for the years 1999, 1998, and 1997 (available at http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/current_conditions.shtml). These reports provide data on recent (i.e., past 5 years) acreage affected by the five major insects reported here. Data on historical acreage affected by these insects were provided by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program.

Insect data are collected using aerial surveys, implemented using a nationally standardized program, addressing both public and private forests. Disease data are collected using ground surveys and are considered to be less reliable.

Forest fire data were provided by the USDA Forest Service National Forest System, but are not limited to national forests. These data do not presently distinguish between forest fires and fires on other land cover types.

2002 Web Site Update: Data for this update were obtained directly from the Forest Service, and the disease data are also available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/current_conditions.shtml.

References

GAO. 1999. Western National Forests: Nearby communities are increasing threatened by catastrophic wildfires. United States General Accounting Office. GAO/T-RCED-99-79.

The Heinz Center. 1999. Designing a Report on the State of the Nation’s Ecosystems: Selected Measurements for Croplands, Forests, and Coasts & Oceans. The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. Washington, D.C. http://www.heinzctr.org/publications.htm.