The Forest Inventory project will satisfy the requirements of RSTC programs to demonstrate, through a core research program, the viability and utility of a regional inventory effort. The primary goal is to develop a pilot forest inventory and information distribution system based on satellite and aerial remote sensing and related geospatial technologies in concert with widely accepted field data collection and computation techniques. New sensor technologies will also be included for potential enhancement of classification and integration into inventory systems. Future information needs (and therefore support) of industries, private landowners, and government agencies will provide the environment to make the proposed system self-sustaining when fully implemented. It is anticipated that this program will contribute significantly to the body of knowledge in large-area inventories, and will therefore also have applicability to other regional, national and global monitoring efforts.

A major need identified prior to planning the RSTC is to integrate land management at the landscape level, i.e., relating forest, wildlife habitat, and cropping systems in a holistic manner. Agricultural conservation practices such as field borders, filter strips, and riparian buffers have been demonstrated to enhance environmental quality through erosion control, herbicide retention, and wildlife habitat enhancement while simultaneously removing marginal lands from production and offsetting lost opportunity costs of producers. Toward this end, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has established a National Conservation Buffer Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage use of conservation buffer strips by agricultural producers. Information needed on environmental benefits includes quantification of enhancements in water quality, erosion control, herbicide retention, and wildlife habitat in relation to width of buffers, buffer cover crop, and landscape context (adjacent plant communities, topography, soil type, etc.). These conservation practices will only be implemented on the landscape if producer concerns regarding propagation of weeds and insects and lost opportunity are addressed. Remote sensing may play a major role in determining the impact of landscape-level management on economics of buffer implementation, and ultimately on social acceptance of these practices.