S. 517 — Forest Data Modernization Act of 2025

This section revises the Forest Inventory and Analysis program under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642(e))—which provides annual data on U.S. forest resources, status, trends, and projections—to expand its scope and requirements as follows: (1) includes forest carbon within assessed resources and requires, as data collection methods, a timber products output study and national woodland owner survey; (2) specifies that long-term remeasurements include available forest carbon data; (3) requires a clear description of the definition of "forest" in all program data, reports, Renewable Resource Assessments prepared under 16 U.S.C. 1601(a), and data provided to foreign entities; (4) updates the strategic plan to address land cover/use changes and carbon-related data variables (e.g., soil carbon) from inventory plots, output studies, and owner surveys; (5) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare and submit to congressional agriculture committees, not later than 180 days after enactment, an initial update to the strategic plan addressing nationally consistent data protocols, forest carbon integration (including below-ground), interagency and private-sector collaboration using technologies such as remote sensing, reporting transparency, sub-State precision, renewable biomass and carbon stocks by ownership and scale, and other recommendations from the Forest Inventory and Analysis National User Group—with further updates every five years thereafter; (6) requires data to be easily accessible to public- and private-sector users while ensuring confidentiality of plot locations, nonaggregated woodland owner data, and forest industry information; (7) directs biennial public compilations of national forest statistics similar to those in Renewable Resource Assessments under 16 U.S.C. 1601(a); (8) establishes an office, data platform, or both to process complex external data requests, with authority to impose fees; and (9) requires annual progress reports on strategic plan implementation as part of the forest inventory and analysis business report.