Forest Information Needs Assessment

Background:

    The Minnesota Forest Resources Act of 1995 (M.S. 89A) created the Minnesota Forest Resources Council as a forum to discuss forest resources issues and to provide sound forest management recommendations to federal, state, and local governments. The Act also created the Interagency Information Cooperative (IIC) to coordinate the development and use of forest resources information in Minnesota in order to support the work of the Council and other public and private organizations.
    One of the legislated purposes of the Cooperative is to "conduct a needs assessment for improving the quality and quantity of information systems" (M.S. 89A Subdivision 2). To fulfill this purpose and to provide direction for future work, the IIC and the Forest Resources Council sponsored three workshops between December 1996 and February 1997. One workshop was held in St. Paul, one in Duluth, and one in Bemidji. Approximately 60 people participated in the workshops to represent various stakeholder groups. The Management Analysis Division of the Minnesota Department of Administration facilitated the workshops and prepared a report which documents the workshop results.
    At each workshop, participants were provided a brief introduction to the Forest Resources Council. IIC representatives also informed participants about the reasons for conducting the workshops and about the intended uses of the information collected at the workshops. Participants then discussed methods and principles for storing and using forest information. The Management Analysis consultants summarized these discussions into 6 principles of data storage and use to guide the work of the IIC.

A. Create and index and description of the existing data.
B. Provide free and convenient access to the database.
C. Provide information in a manner compatible with a wide
variety of automated systems.
D. Ensure sensitivity to privacy and data security.
E. Require adequate hardware to house the data.
F. Provide sufficient training to access the database.

Through facilitated discussions, participants also identified and prioritized specific forest information needs. The needs were prioritized based on consideration of the following:

What are the most urgent needs?
Which are the easiest to accomplish and will therefore
generate momentum?
Which actions will catalyze or pave the way for others?
Which needs can the IIC realistically meet?

The Management Analysis consultants summarized the discussions into an outline of information needs. The specific information needs that were identified were grouped into categories. The broadest categories of the outline are natural resources information, management information, cultural information, and analysis tools. The information in the natural resources category was generally identified as highest priority, though a specific item within the category may be of lower priority than a specific item in one of the other three categories.

I. NATURAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
    A. Land cover
        1. Current and detailed (stand level) forest coverage
            inventory on all lands owned by governmental
            units and eventually on all ownership's, both
            public and private.
        2. A broad, complete inventory of forested areas.
        3. An inventory of historical vegetation on forest
            lands.
        4. An inventory of planned future vegetation for the
            specified areas.
    B. Special-status plant and animal habitat
        1. Rare plant and/or animal life occurrences.
        2. Criteria for identification and delineation of
            important habitat sites.
        3. Additional inventory data to identify new records of
            rare plant and/or animal life occurrences.
        4. Recovery plans for rare, threatened and
            endangered species.
        5. Potential habitat for special-status plant and
            animal life.
    C. General wildlife and plants
        1. An inventory of plant and animal habitat
            requirements.
    D. Natural physical data
        1. A detailed list of soils and where those soils are
            located in Minnesota.
        2. Hydrology, topography, climate, and minerals in
            Minnesota.

II. MANAGEMENT
    A. Broad-range strategic planning
        1. An inventory on the land management plans of
            landowners for adjacent forested property.
    B. Detailed stand-by-stand plans
         1. An inventory of planned forest habitat changes.
    C. Ecological classification system
    D. Planning and management restrictions and/or
        opportunities.
        1. Key archaeological and historical sites.
        2. Sites that need special consideration.

III. CULTURAL INFORMATION
    A. Land use
        1. Current land use information, with specifics.
        2. Planning and forecasts for land use.
        3. Past or historical land use.
    B. Land Ownership
        1. Ownership of each 40-acre parcel of land in
            forested areas.
        2. Provide accurate survey information.
    C. Trails and roads
        1. Information on public highways.
        2. Information on forest roads and trails.
        3. An inventory of public recreation trails in forested
            areas.

I. ANALYSIS TOOLS
A. Models
1. Information on specific forest models.

go to top