Sponsors (4)
The bill standardizes and expands forest monitoring, data access, and technology—helping governments, researchers, and landowners make better climate and management decisions—but increases costs, raises privacy and international data‑sharing concerns, and could restrict access for smaller users.
State and local governments, researchers, and the public will receive more consistent, frequent forest inventory data including above- and below-ground carbon, improving climate and land-use planning and decision-making.
Researchers, state and local agencies, and the public will get easier access to FIA data and regular reports on program implementation, increasing transparency and research utility.
Scientists, state and local managers, and landowners can use expanded remote sensing definitions (LiDAR, hyperspectral, microwave, machine learning) to conduct faster, more accurate forest monitoring and assessments.
Taxpayers and Congress may face higher costs to expand FIA methods, run new surveys, update plans, and maintain data platforms.
Expanding data sharing (including defined terminology that may allow access by non-U.S. entities) could raise concerns about international access to U.S. forest data and commercial exploitation.
Private landowners may face increased scrutiny or requests for ownership and timber information, creating confidentiality and privacy concerns.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Modernizes FIA data collection and reporting: adds timber and owner surveys, requires forest (including soil) carbon reporting, standardizes protocols, updates strategic planning, and expands remote sensing definitions.
Introduced February 11, 2025 by Thomas Jonathan Ossoff · Last progress February 11, 2025
Expands and modernizes how the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program collects, reports, and shares forest data. It adds new data sources (timber products studies and a national woodland owner survey), requires reporting of forest carbon (including below‑ground and soil carbon), sets nationally consistent standards and clear definitions (including a defined meaning of “forest” for data shared with non‑U.S. entities), and directs updates to FIA strategic planning and public reporting on timelines and implementation. Requires the Secretary to update the FIA strategic plan within 180 days and every five years after that, improves data accessibility while protecting landowner confidentiality, creates an office or platform to handle complex external data requests (with allowable fees), mandates biennial national compilations, and expands the statutory definition of remote sensing technologies to explicitly include microwave, LiDAR, hyperspectral, high‑resolution remote sensing, and machine learning.