Texas A&M Forest Service in cooperation with the Southern
Research Station of the USDA Forest Service conducts a forest
inventory to measure the status of all the forest resources in
the state. The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program
consists of a series of permanently established plots which are
re-measured every five to 10 years to determine growth,
composition and mortality of forests, as well as land use
changes and potential for wildfire in the state. Previous
surveys were conducted periodically in East Texas during 1935,
1955, 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1992. Issues such as increased
demands for forest products, restricted timber supplies from
regions such as the Pacific Northwest and growing interest in
forested conditions other than commercial timberland have
increased need for FIA data. The 1998 Farm Bill replaced the
periodic surveys of the past with a continuous survey system
where 10-20% of the plots are measured annually and increased
the scope of the survey from only commercial timberland to a