# Presentation: 676149

## Condition Class Determination

- National Manual Version 1.55

## Condition Class Determination

- Only delineate conditions on plots that have at least one accessible forest land condition.

- Do not delineate conditions on plots that are completely nonforest, inaccessible, or hazardous

- New procedures to determine extent of forest land area due to national integration

- New condition attributes and codes due to the national movement toward “normalized” data

## Three Basic Steps

- Delineate conditions based on Condition Status:
- 	Basically, is it Accessible Forest Land or not?

- 2.	Subdivide Accessible Forest Land based on seven condition defining attributes

- 3.	Subdivide Nonforest Land

## Step 1: Delineate Condition Status

- Delineate the plot into the following condition status categories:
- Accessible forest land
- Nonforest land
- Noncensus water
- Census water

- Change from previous manuals:
- Noncensus water is now its own separate condition status and is always delineated
- Use code 9 when past forest condition data is not available, or forested subplot is not relocated

- 5	Denied access area
- 6	Area too hazardous to visit
- 7	Area that is not in the sample (Mexico)
- 9   Lost subplot/past condition data (forest only)

## Delineating Condition Status

- Accessible forest land (Code 1)
- Must be at least 1.0 acre in size, and 120.0 feet wide

- Nonforest land (Code 2)
- Must be at least 1.0 acre in size, and 120.0 feet wide
- Exception: Developed nonforest conditions  can be any size (30 series land use codes)

- Noncensus water (Code 3):
- Linear water courses between 30.0-200.0 feet wide
- Bodies of water between 1.0-4.5 acres

- Census water (Code 4):
- Linear water courses 200.0 feet wide or larger
- Bodies of water 4.5 acres or larger

## Delineating Condition Status

- The rest of the condition classes can be any size:
- Denied access (Code 5)
- Hazardous area (Code 6)
- Area not in the sample (Code 7)
- Lost subplot/condition data (Code 9)

- Note: Only use the lost subplot/condition data for accessible forest conditions
- Nonforest subplots are never lost
- Record Condition Status code 2 for nonforest conditions on a plot that has no past condition data

## Delineating Condition Status

- Major change in determining the boundaries of accessible forest conditions:
- Nonforest conditions that are less than 120 feet wide or less than 1.0 acre do not stop a forest land condition from continuing across the nonforest entity

- This includes developed nonforest entities like right-of-ways, even though they are delineated as a nonforest condition on the plot

- Also includes noncensus water courses between 30-120 feet wide, even though they are delineated as a nonforest condition on the plot

## Delineating Condition Status

## Delineating Condition Status

- Limit on size of forest area between nonforest conditions:

- Individual pieces of forest conditions divided by nonforest land cannot be smaller than 30 ft x 120 ft

- These individual pieces have to be within 120 ft of forest land that is 120 ft wide and 1.0 acre

## Delineating Condition Status

## Delineating Condition Status

- Another major change in determining boundaries of accessible forest land:

- Application of the 90 degree rule
- When bisecting forested points that are less than 90 degrees, no distinct boundary line exists on the  the ground

- Classify the entire subplot according to where the subplot center falls

- If subplot center lands in the side of the woods that is greater than 120 feet wide, then the whole subplot is forest

- If the subplot falls in the side of the woods that is less than 120 feet wide, then the whole subplot is nonforest

## Delineating Condition Status

- Forest point with no distinct boundary.  Location of subplot center determines condition status of entire subplot.  In this case, the whole subplot is forest:

- This rule holds true if the forest and nonforest areas in the above diagram were reversed.  In that case the subplot would be nonforest.

## Step 2: Subdivide Accessible Forest Land

- Subdivide accessible forest land on the plot into smaller forest conditions due to differences in any of the following condition defining attributes:

- Past Condition Status

- Past Condition Status is a new condition defining attribute
- Codes are listed from highest to lowest priority

- 2	Reserved Status

- 3	Owner Group

- 4	Forest Type

- 5	Stand Size Class

- 6	Regeneration Status (formerly “Stand Origin”)

- 7	Tree Density

## Subdividing Accessible Forest (Status Code 1)

- Major change to size requirement of within forest conditions:
- Size of within forest conditions must now be 120 feet wide and 1.0 acre

- Special size exemption for “riparian areas” – 30 feet wide and 1.0 acre

- Associated with water course or body of water

- Differ in at least one of the condition defining variables

- Must be within forest – 30 ft strip of woods associated with a river that runs through nonforest land is not a forest condition

## Subdividing Accessible Forest (Status Code 1)

- Addition of Past Condition Status to forest condition defining attributes:

- All reverted forest areas are recorded as separate conditions on the plot

- Regardless of size

- Regardless of similarity between all other forest condition defining attributes

- Must be within forest – 30 ft strip of woods in middle of a large pasture is not a forested condition

## Step 3: Subdivide Nonforest Land

- Nonforest land conditions generally recorded as one condition

- Census water still its own separate condition status and is always delineated on the plot

- Change from previous manuals:
- Noncensus water is its own separate condition status
- Now it is always delineated on the plot from other nonforest land conditions if present

- Subdivide landcleared conditions (Past Condition Status = Forest) from other nonforest conditions on the plot

## Subdividing Nonforest Land (Status Code 2)

- Nonforest land areas usually recorded as one condition

- Example:
- Both a road and pasture land are on the current plot
- Both were nonforest at last inventory
- Both areas are recorded as ONE nonforest condition status

- This procedure is NOT different than the previous manuals

## Subdividing Nonforest Land (Status Code 2)

- Exception to grouping nonforest land uses:
- Landcleared areas
- Regardless of size and width

- Example:
- Both a road and pasture land are on the current plot
- Only the road was nonforest at the last inventory
- The pasture land was forest at last inventory
- These are recorded as TWO separate nonforest conditions on the plot, because the pasture was landcleared

- This procedure IS different from the previous manuals!

## Boundary Changes

- Do not map the following “indistinct” boundaries on a subplot:
- Do not map the 120 foot line on a subplot when bisecting a point that is less than 90 degrees
- Stand Size must be at least 2 classes apart for it to delineate separate conditions on a subplot

## SK 1 & 3 Plots

- The whole subplot is forest.  Initial, or replacement plots are no problem.  The whole subplot is forest.

- _GREEN AREA:_
- Present LU = 01
- New Past LU = 01
- OLD LU is not recorded on SK1 or 3 plots

## SK 2 Plots

- On SK2 plots, the 120 foot line was mapped on the subplot last survey

- Need to show the area on the subplot that switched land uses due to landclearing, reversions, and procedural change

- Record the same boundary as previous crew

- Combination of Present Land Use, New Past Land Use, and OLD Land Use will indicate the procedural change

- Record Similar Identified Condition Number

**Notes:**
If needed.

## SK 2 Plots

- The whole subplot is forest.  Last time the green area was forest and the red area was nonforest.
- Record the old crew’s boundary. Red area is separate condition.

- _GREEN AREA:_
- Present LU = 01
- New Past LU = 01
- OLD LU = 01
- _RED AREA:_
- Present LU = 01
- New Past LU = 01
- OLD LU = Nonforest
- Record Similar Identified Condition > 0

## Questions?