About Resource Assessment
Resource Assessment (RA) supports DNR goals by providing inventory, monitoring, and data analysis products and services to the Minnesota government, collaborators, and the public to help them manage, conserve, and sustain natural resources.
New technology, frequent data acquisition, and modernized methods for analyzing data continue to make RA a leader in statewide natural resource management. The support model we developed enables us to build partnerships and provide the most cost-effective solutions to all stakeholders for long-term natural resource management decision-making.
Services and data products available
Resource Assessment provides high-quality data and information for our partners and customers, including public agencies, municipalities, tribal nations, private industry, non-profit organizations, and private land owners. Our services include fieldwork, aerial photography, mapping, reports and recommendations, and various spatial data analyses. Additional examples include:
- Forest inventory (e.g., fieldwork, modeling)
- Fall color and supplemental aerial photography
- Cartographic mapping and map production
- Forest Resources Reports and Action Plan
- Forest canopy change detection
- Forest cover type mapping
- Wetland inventories
- GIS analyses
- Hydrographic modeling
- Large raster processing
- Lidar processing and derived product creation
- Wetland status and trends monitoring
- Forest fire vegetation health analysis
- Natural disaster mapping and monitoring
Please use our contact information below to find out more about our services.
Forest inventory expanding in 2023
We need help from private woodland owners! A new forest inventory program has begun, and woodland owners are eligible to participate.
Forest inventory provides data on the type, number, and size of trees in forests. This information is important for forest management decision-making. Lidar technology, combined with field plot-based inventory (PBI), is used to create precise and current forest inventory information on the forest landscape. Until now, PBI has been collected primarily on public lands. Expanding PBI to private woodlands will provide landowners and managers with valuable information needed to maintain Minnesota's forested ecosystem's beauty, health, and resilience.
Email DNR Forest Inventory for more information and check back here for sign up information coming soon.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
In the news and upcoming events
Resource Assessment keeps growing! Email Resource Assessment or check out the Minnesota Careers webpage to learn about job opportunities.
Check out this WCCO News Story about how RA uses lidar-derived information to enhance and update our forest inventory!
Other resources
- Plot Based Inventory (PBI) field procedures: PBI manual and PBI Companion Dataset Overview - April 2023
- Videos
For more information about Resource Assessment:
Dennis Kepler, Resource Assessment Supervisor
Jason Langenecker, Assistant Resource Assessment Supervisor for Field Services
Lucas Spaete, Assistant Resource Assessment Supervisor for Geospatial Services
Jennifer Corcoran, Remote Sensing Program Consultant, Remote Sensing and GIS
Keb Guralski, Statewide Inventory Coordinator, Forest Inventory and GIS
Lila Westreich, Guideline Monitoring Program Consultant
General questions: Resource Assessment
Questions about Forest Inventory or Field Procedures: MN Forest Inventory or email Keb Guralski
Questions about the Minnesota Lidar Plan: LidarHUB or email MN Lidar or Jennifer Corcoran