A CONCERN OF THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY!

1. A CONCERN OF THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY! “Due to the Privacy Amendment: H.R. 3423 Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 (November 17, 1999) some of the data in the FIADB has been zeroed out. Preliminary interpretation of this law suggests that we may no longer be able to provide even approximate plot locations.” John Moser FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Washington, DC, 8/1/2002, Slide 1

2. PRIVACY ISSUE – A CASE IN POINT “… 1996 analysis could not be done today because we can not send specially trained crews to the FIA plots … to collect ecological data … great differences in productivity and forest dynamics across habitat types” John Kotar, Univ. of WI John Moser FIA National Users’ Group Meeting, Washington, DC, 8/1/2002, Slide 2

3. PRIVACY ISSUE: POINTS AND POSSIBILITIES • POINTS: • UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CONSTANTLY DEALS WITH HIGHLY CLASSIFIED DATA – PROCEDURES & POLICIES IN PLACE • RESEARCH IS AN ITERATIVE PROCESS THAT REQUIRES ACCESS TO DATA. A SINGLE FIA GROUP TO HANDLE SPATIAL ANALYSIS REQUESTS IS INADEQUATE FOR RESEARCHERS • POSSIBILITIES: • VARIABLE COORDINATE RELEASE POLICY – i.e., FOR PUBLIC LANDS, ACTUAL OR “FUZZED” COORDINATES; FOR PRIVATE LAND CLASSES, COUNTY OR HEXAGON CENTROIDS • ESTABLISH MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS John Moser FIA National Users’ Group Meeting,Washington, DC, 8/1/2002, Slide 3