Geographic or geospatial information technology (GIT) poses many new benefits for the nation's State Forestry Organizations (SFOs), but several policy, institutional and technological issues must be addressed to maximize results and minimize costs. This project, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), seeks to help state forestry organizations understand these issues and apply remote sensing. The approach combines a robust technical evaluation of remote sensing science and data for forestry applications with an investigation of relevant policy and institutional considerations in state forestry organizations. Project co-investigators are James Hassett of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), and Lisa Warnecke of Geomanagement Associates. The project team is focusing on the Northeastern United States where conditions present particularly formidable technical, economic, policy, governing and management challenges. Work will expand in subsequent years to address adjacent regions in the country and additional organizations.

Within the overall project concept, the objectives of the first year of effort were to establish baseline information. This baseline information provided a consistent reference which can be used to develop knowledge and procedures for effective and efficient use of remote sensing. Specifically, the initial objectives are:

• Establish and disseminate comprehensive ground reference information about forest resources in the Northeastern U.S.
• Determine baseline technical information about the application of traditional and current remote sensing methods to forest resources in the Northeastern U.S.
• Compile fundamental information about policy and institutional aspects of remote sensing use by SFOs, including identification of issues, needs, applications, and opportunities.

Current and future trends in remote sensing present compelling opportunities for applying geo-spatial methods to forest resource problems. At the same time, benefits derived from remote sensing remain limited unless they are understood within the context of forestry organizations that have policy, management and other practical needs. Long-term goals of the FOReST project include:

• Investigate and apply emerging capabilities in remote sensing and integrate these with traditional capabilities and practices.
• Develop innovative methods and generate knowledge about effective use of modern remote sensing.
• Demonstrate, compare, and quantify levels of capability, especially in terms of issues associated with forest resources in the Northeastern U.S.
• Capture and understand the Earth Science information needs, experiences, problems, and opportunities of the forestry community.
• Engage SFO leaders to understand and incorporate their perspectives and to identify key policy issues. This information will assist development of approaches and applications that increase the use and potential benefit of remote sensing in state government and other forestry organizations.
• Conduct outreach activities that will educate a broad range of end-users while fostering dialog and understanding about remote sensing and geo-spatial technologies.
• Integrate remote sensing and attending technologies into management and decision-making communities of SFOs and similar organizations.