Iowa, 2021

Forests of

8% forested*

Iowa has an estimated 2,851,077 acres of forest land. * Percent forest is forest area/total area. Percent forest with water removed from total area is 8%.

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic

metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest

resources in Iowa. This information is based on field data

collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory

and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and it is

updated yearly.

Area of forest land

(million acres)

Number of live trees

on forest land

(billion trees)

Volume of live trees

on forest land

(billion cubic feet)

2.89

2.85

1.03

0.98

4.62

4.78

Local

10.67%

Private

85.20%

Forest land ownership

2016 2021

28,562 acres of nonforest

revert back to forest annually*

24,103 acres of forest land

convert annually* to nonforest

15,213 acres of forest land

are treated by cutting

(harvest, thinning, etc.) annually*

Iowa has 5,966 sample plots across the State, of which

625.0 are currently forested. Each year, about 10-20 percent

of these plots are visited and measured by field crews. Data

used in this update were accessed from the FIA database on

06/02/2022.

Federal

4.13%

State and

All live (million cubic feet)

Annual Net Change 59

Annual Removals 36

Annual Mortality 87

Annual Gross Growth 182

3,906 acres of forest land

are disturbed annually* by fire

14,546 acres of forest land

are disturbed annually* by weather events

USDA Forest Service - Forest Inventory & Analysis

The estimates presented are based on data retrieved from the FIA database (06/02/2022) and may not reflect the most recent data available from the FIA

program. Note – this publication does not include estimates of uncertainty. The most current data and sampling error for the estimates above can be

found by visiting https://www.fia.fs.usda.gov/.

*Average annual estimates are based on data collected across 5-10 years and may not be indicative of the nominal year presented in the title by itself.
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

Iowa, 2021

Forests of

How to cite this publication

USDA Forest Service. 2022. Forests of Iowa, 2021. Resource Update FS-363. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.

2p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-363 .

Archived Versions

This report and archived past versions can be found on the USDA Forest Service publication database, Treesearch using keywords "Forest

Inventory" and "Iowa" here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/.

National Woodland Owner Survey

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) collects and reports on multiple attributes of forest land ownership. Details of the NWOS program can

be found here: https://www.fia.fs.usda.gov/nwos/.

The most recent NWOS Factsheet for Iowa can be found here: https://www.nrs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/52429/.

Additional Resources

The application that produced this resource update was developed using data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis database

(FIADB): https://apps.fs.usda.gov/fia/datamart/datamart_excel.html .

Tables for Iowa, 2021 can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-363-Tables

The FIA one-click application can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2

Bechtold, W.A.; Patterson, P.L., eds. 2005. The enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis program—national sampling design and estimation procedures.

Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–80. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 85 p.

https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-80 .

NOTE: Some of the above links will not be active until the resource update has been approved for official publication.

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