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. Maine’s FIA program is the primary source of information about Maine’s forest conditions, including species, forest types, acreage, forest structure, timber volumes and quality, wildlife habitat conditions, and other associated resources. As such it is a vital means of understanding both current and future forest conditions that are critical to Maine’s communities across the state.

The FIA program is implemented primarily by field crews of inventory specialists, part of the Forest Health and Monitoring Division, and the state’s forest biometrician. This page summarizes recent reports that resulted from the work of these dedicated MFS employees and from MFS’s partnership with the USDA Forest Service’s national program.

Annually, USDA-FS FIA unit, in concert with MFS,provides updates summarizing the most current data (e.g., Forests of Maine 2021 and Forests of Maine 2020). In summer 2024, the 2022 data should be publicly available. MFS is currently compiling the 2023 data, while field crews are collecting the 2024 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.

These data also form the basis of the official greenhouse gas inventory submitted annually by the U.S. to the United Nations.

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

Forest Management, Harvesting, and Wood Products

Maine forest industry provides wood and wood-based products that are essential to Maine citizens, and are also sold in a global marketplace. Many Maine citizens participate in this effort, from foresters, loggers, truckers, and mill workers, to other supporting businesses. Many communities in Maine are also reliant on forest management, harvesting, and manufacturing as critical elements of local and regional economies, Mills and manufacturers from individual entrepreneurs to facilities with many hundreds of workers produce a dizzying array of wood products, from crafts to building materials, paper, pulp, fuel, finished goods, ingredients for other consumer goods, and industrial materials.

MFS is charged by statute to report on key aspects of the forest industry, including wood processing, silvicultural activities, and stumpage prices. View these annual reports.

Other data sources

Periodically, MFS also derives information from multiple other data sources. As these reports are available they may be included here. Interested parties should check back from time to time for updates, or send a request to forestinfo@maine.gov.