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Condition Class Determination

• National Manual Version 1.55

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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

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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
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Step 1 Delineate Condition Status

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

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)

• 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

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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

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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

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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

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Delineating Condition Status
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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

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Delineating Condition Status
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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

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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.
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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

2 Reserved Status
3 Owner Group
4 Forest Type
5 Stand Size Class
6 Regeneration Status (formerly Stand Origin)
7 Tree Density

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

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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

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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

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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

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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
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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!
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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

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SK 1 3 Plots
Forest area that narrows to a point with no
distinct boundary. 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
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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

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SK 2 Plots
Forest area that narrows to a point with no
distinct boundary. The whole subplot is forest.
Last time the green area was forest and the red
area was nonforest. Record the old crews
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 gt 0
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Questions?