Maine’s Forest Conditions – Resources and Reports

About Maine’s Forest Inventory

FIA field crew prepares to re-measure a remote FIA plot in Northern Maine

A long-standing partnership between the Maine Forest Service (MFS) and the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program maintains over 3,000 permanent forest inventory plots. These data are the best source for estimating Maine’s timber inventory and form the basis of the official greenhouse gas inventory submitted annually by the U.S. to the United Nations. This page summarizes recent reports that resulted from this partnership.

Annually FIA provides updates summarizing the most current data (e.g., Forests of Maine 2021 and Forests of Maine 2020). In spring 2023, the 2022 data should be publicly available. MFS crews are currently collecting the 2023 data.

2018 marked the end of the fourth full cycle since the annual FIA inventory began. Maine’s Forests 2018 summarizes these data in the most recent (interactive) 5-year report. (View summary report).

The data that underlie these reports, once collected are stored in a public repository found in the FIA DataMart.

Users can download the data to conduct their own analyses or use tools such as EVALIDator to generate population level estimates.

Greenhouse Gas

Annually, USFS-FIA compiles estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals using the FIA data.

These data are summarized at the state level and available as a research dataset.

Using the FIA data along with several other data sources, the University of Maine, in collaboration with MFS and Bates College, recently compiled data resulting in the State of Maine’s Carbon budget which examines carbon stocks and stock changes across the entire state of Maine.

Woodland Owners

In addition to conducting forest inventory, USFS compiles information on the nation’s woodland owners through the national woodland owner survey (NWOS).

Family forest ownerships of the United States, 2018: results from the USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey

Family Forest (10+ Acres) Ownership Characteristics Maine 2018