Casey Croshaw

Current Research

I work as a field scientist for the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station.As a member of the Data Collection Team, I measure the trees, vegetation, and other biophysical indicators to monitor how our forests are changing. We serve a vital role in providing policy makers, landowners, industry, investors, and land stewards high quality forest inventory information to improve decision making.FIA is a nationwide, long-term forest monitoring program that began with an act of Congress in 1928 (McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act).Since that time, FIA has grown and adapted to meet changing needs, however its core mission has remained the same: to report on the status and trends of the Nation’s forest resources. FIA data and products are publicly available and published online (https://www.fia.fs.usda.gov/). FIA data are used for forest planning, non-native species monitoring, fire modeling, biomass availability studies,assessing fuels reduction strategies, carbon estimation, and growth, yield, and mortality monitoring across the landscape.The data collected on individual plots are pooled and summarized, protecting landowner privacy as mandated by the Food Security Act.We take landowner privacy seriously to preserve data integrity, and the relationship with our partners across the region who we depend upon