FORESTRY
IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Forest Inventory

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) is a USDA Forest Service program that conducts and maintains a census of our nation's forests. In South Dakota, FIA is implemented cooperatively with the Division of Resource Conservation and Forestry. The program has three components:

• An inventory of forest land area, species, size, health, tree growth, mortality, and removals.
• An assessment of wood production and utilization rates by various products.
• Forest land ownership.

Since 2000, the forest inventory in South Dakota has been conducted on an annualized basis. This allows 20 percent of permanent inventory plots to be visited each year, so that all permanent plots are visited once every five years. The wood production and utilization inventory, called Timber Product Output Study, is conducted once every five years. The forest land ownership study is ongoing, with 20 percent of the survey population contacted each year.

Further information about the program, inventories, methodologies, and data tables can be found at U.S. Forest Service FIA.

Reports & Studies

Forest Inventory

• Assessing Urban Forests
• South Dakota's Forests - 2010
• Forests of the Black Hills National Forest
• Statistics & Quality Assurance of South Dakota's Forests
• South Dakota's Forest Resources in 2015
• Northern Great Plains Forests 2015
• South Dakota's Forest Resources in 2016
• South Dakota's Forest Resources in 2017
• South Dakota's Forest Resources in 2018
• South Dakota's Forest Resources in 2019

National Woodland Owners Survey

• National Woodland Owner Survey - 2010
• National Woodland Owner Survey - 2013
• National Woodland Owner Survey - 2018

Timber Product Output

• South Dakota Timber Industry - An Assessment of Timber Product Output & Use in 2009
• South Dakota Timber Industry - 2014

Other

• South Central South Dakota Forest Survey - Report
• South Central South Dakota Forest Survey - References
• South Central South Dakota Forest Survey - Data Tables