Insights

Tables, figures, and dashboards: Choosing between them
data viz
forest analytics
How you show communicate data is just as important as the data itself.
Sep 26, 2025

Mapping the mixedwoods forests of New England
forestry
mixedwoods
forest inventory
forest management
A peek into mixedwoods highlights their unique characteristics.
Sep 24, 2025

Homes that heat with wood: data by state
firewood
heating
energy
wood
forest products
Approximately 1.77 million US homes heat with wood, a value that has been decreasing in recent years.
Aug 31, 2025

Treeconomics: the Maine Stumpage Dashboard
forest products
Maine
timber prices
New data dashboard highlights over 20 years of stumpage prices in Maine.
Aug 29, 2025

Does carbon last longer in harvested wood than decaying in the forest?
harvested wood products
deadwood
forest products
carbon
Comparing biomass remaining in wood in harvested wood products versus dead wood.
Jul 26, 2025

Vibe coders: the new citizen data scientists
coding
analytics
data science
With the rise of AI and automated coding platforms, don’t discount the vibe coder.
Jul 17, 2025

Quantifying type of thinning: the d/D ratio
thinning
silviculture
timber harvest
FVS
A metric that provides an objective approach to understanding different types of thinning.
Jun 29, 2025

The type of thinning matters for future carbon stocks
FVS
growth and yield
thinning
silviculture
The type of thinning, (e.g., from below, throughout, or above the diameter distribution), plays an important role in future forest carbon stocks.
Jun 23, 2025

Predicting the black swan: extreme event models
modeling
extreme events
disturbance
Extreme value analyses can quantify the distribution of intense events that have a very low probability of occurrence.
May 30, 2025

Accounting for defect when quantifying tree-level biomass
biomass
carbon
defect
forest carbon
Field measurements that portray the defect of a tree can be used to dial in estimates of tree biomass and carbon.
May 28, 2025

Timber harvest trends in the northern US in the last 25 years
timber harvest
forest products
logging
Historical data quantify the decrease in harvest volume in the past three decades.
Apr 24, 2025

How much does adding regeneration change FVS predictions?
FVS
growth and yield
regeneration
calibration
Regeneration is not a component of many geographics variants of the FVS model, but including it can have a big impact on long-term predictions of forest carbon.
Apr 21, 2025

Determining expected wait times at mills for wood deliveries
regression
wait times
forest products
quantile regression
Reducing the wait times of wood deliveries is a priority for wood procurement managers and suppliers.
Feb 22, 2025

How well does the “quick and dirty” standard deviation approximation work?
statistics
analytics
data science
Gauging the performance of a simple approximation.
Jan 19, 2025

Github Copilot: user thoughts from six months in
code
analytics
programming
Adventures in using an AI-powered paired programming
Jan 15, 2025

Arbor Custom Analytics hiring! Seeking Forest Data Analyst
jobs
Looking to grow the analytics team.
Jan 6, 2025

How to perform equivalence tests in R
statistics
hypothesis tests
model evaluation
Comparing the benefits of equivalence testing with traditional uses of hypothesis tests in forestry.
Dec 26, 2024

Top posts from 2024
Behind the curtain
A recap of our top posts and articles from 2024.
Dec 24, 2024

Calculating growth-to-drain ratios from forest inventory data
Forest growth
growth and yield
forest measurements
There’s no better way to understand harvest sustainability across a region than to calculate the growth/drain ratio.
Nov 25, 2024

Carbon recovery time: how long until forests come back after harvest?
Forest carbon
growth and yield
timber harvest
Understanding how much is harvested from a forest can help understand carbon storage.
Nov 21, 2024

Components of forest growth: a case study with carbon
Forest carbon
growth and yield
forest measurements
Understanding how growth is calculated can help unravel the drivers of forest carbon change.
Oct 17, 2024

AI, original content, and one-boxing
AI
Content
Behind the curtain
On the importance of understanding one-boxing as it relates to AI and original content.
Sep 27, 2024

How much does calibrating mortality change FVS predictions?
FVS
growth and yield
calibration
Comparing non-calibrated out-of-the-box FVS predictions with a version that modifies mortality.
Sep 12, 2024

Predicting tree biomass for many species with tidymodels
modeling
biomass
tidymodels
If you’re familiar with the tidyverse and you also have a need to fit models to data, you’ll love tidymodels.
Jul 22, 2024

The ‘shop local’ trend in forest carbon markets
Forest carbon
Carbon markets
Companies that emit carbon may seek to pay for quality carbon credits that come from forests in their backyard.
Jun 19, 2024

Why the carbon in softwood products lasts longer than hardwoods
Harvested wood products
Forest products
A look at the differences in longevity between harvested wood products of softwood and hardwood species.
Jun 12, 2024

Arbor Custom Analytics website now runs on Quarto
Behind the curtain
The Arbor Custom Analytics website now runs on Quarto, an open source publishing system for sharing information.
Jun 1, 2024

A primer on carbon sequestration rates in US forests
Forest carbon
Here’s a primer on forest carbon sequestration values and how much carbon US forests grow on an annual basis.
Matt Russell
Apr 24, 2024

Recapping the Russell 2024 maple syrup season
For fun
The data behind our amateur maple syrup operations.
Matt Russell
Apr 11, 2024

Preliminary thoughts on using the new National Scale Volume and Biomass Estimators
Forest carbon
NSVB
A few initial thoughts on using the new NSVB equations.
Matt Russell
Feb 26, 2024

A quick and easy way to estimate forestland area change across US states
Forest analytics
FIA
How to estimate forestland area change.
Matt Russell
Feb 16, 2024

Are winter temperatures correlated with stumpage prices in Maine?
Forest products
Climate
Looking at the correlation between stumpage prices and Maine winters.
Matt Russell
Jan 24, 2024

New web app shows pandemic assistance to forest products industry by state
Forest products
Covid
Forest products companies and their use of PPP loans and PATHH payments.
Matt Russell
Jan 13, 2024

Most popular blog posts and podcasts in 2023
Behind the curtain
A rundown of the most popular content from this year.
Matt Russell
Dec 22, 2023

Tree measurements on the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
Data visualization
Data, measurements, and fun facts about the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
Matt Russell
Dec 17, 2023

A list of R packages for forestry applications
Analytics
A handy list of packages for R users in the forestry community.
Matt Russell
Nov 24, 2023

A handy R function for getting ecological division from FIA data
Some functions from the R’s stringr package to obtain ecological division.
Matt Russell
Nov 18, 2023

How much does adding previous diameter and height growth change FVS predictions?
Forest growth and yield
Comparing non-calibrated out-of-the-box FVS predictions with a calibrated version.
Matt Russell
Oct 31, 2023

Using R and Python to get forest resource data through the EVALIDator API
Analytics
New ways to access FIA estimates through R and Python.
Matt Russell
Oct 25, 2023

Stratifying the number of plots to measure in a forest carbon inventory
Sampling
How to allocate field plots to measure forest carbon under a stratified random sampling framework.
Matt Russell
Sep 22, 2023

Recent updates to tidyverse functions
Analytics
A few key updates from Teaching the tidyverse in 2023
Matt Russell
Sep 14, 2023

Implementing climate adaptive silviculture scenarios in the Forest Vegetation Simulator
Forest growth and yield
A tutorial on adaptive silviculture treatments in FVS.
Matt Russell
Aug 29, 2023

Linear quantile mixed models: applications in forestry
Statistics
LQMM models provide a flexible structure to account for random effects
Matt Russell
Aug 21, 2023

It’s okay to look at the solutions for statistics and data science exercises
Statistics
I had mixed feelings about making the solutions for exercises available to learners.
Matt Russell
Jul 15, 2023

Making R graphs more accessible using BrailleR
Analytics
Data visualization
Accessibility
An R package to make graphs and figures more accessible
Matt Russell
Jun 30, 2023

Quantifying the shade tolerance of climate-adapted tree species in the Northeast
Forest measurements
A look at the shade tolerance of tree species in the northeastern US that are projected to see changes in suitable habitat.
Matt Russell
May 26, 2023

Lorey’s height: the remote sensing way to estimate tree height
Forest measurements
Lorey’s height is a measure of average stand height that is weighted by basal area.
Matt Russell
Apr 21, 2023

Bootstrapped resampling to model tree biomass
Statistics
Bootstrapping works well with messy data and with small samples.
Matt Russell
Apr 12, 2023

How much of Maine’s forests are enrolled in carbon programs?
Carbon
Carbon storage and sequestration is one of the most important attributes that forests provide. Carbon has quickly become a mechanism to address current and future climate…
Matt Russell
Mar 21, 2023

Imputing missing tree heights from a forest inventory
Analytics
Total height is one of the most useful measurements of a tree, but it’s often not measured. This is because measuring heights takes considerable time and effort. While it…
Matt Russell
Feb 17, 2023

Calculating carbon in standing dead trees
Forest carbon
Quantifying the presence and abundance of standing dead trees (SDTs) is notoriously difficult. While live and healthy trees generally appear similar in form and appearance…
Matt Russell
Feb 10, 2023

Forestland on the blockchain: a new prospect for private forest owners
Forestry
In 2021 a 40-acre tract of land in Wyoming was sold and purchased. A land sale like this will not typically make news headlines. But what turned heads about this sale was…
Matt Russell
Jan 5, 2023

Stumpage prices for sawlogs in Maine, 2019-2020
Forest products
Many states provide information on stumpage prices for commonly harvested timber species. This information provides land managers and landowners a sense of what current…
Matt Russell
Dec 23, 2022

Forest carbon cheat sheet: updated for 2022
Carbon
The Forest Carbon Cheat Sheet is a quick reference guide for converting forest carbon measurements and understanding typical carbon values at the tree, stand, and landscape…
Matt Russell
Dec 21, 2022

Doing statistics in the tidyverse: exploring the infer package
Statistics
If you use R software for your data analysis, you are likely familiar with the tidyverse. The tidyverse package is a “megapackage” in R that includes several packages that…
Matt Russell
Dec 14, 2022

New updates for tools that query Forest Inventory and Analysis data
Analytics
The US national forest inventory has information contained from over 130,000 forest inventory plots across the country. Data collected and maintained by the Forest Inventory…
Matt Russell
Nov 23, 2022

How to spot poor data analyses
Analytics
Being an excellent data analyst requires you to understand the techniques that go into analyzing data and how to communicate them effectively. While having a foundation in…
Matt Russell
Oct 20, 2022

P-ing in the woods: p-values in forest science
Statistics
The statistics community has had a lot of discussion in recent years about the role of p-values and statistical significance. This has led some to question if we’re relying…
Matt Russell
Oct 10, 2022

How many trees make a mass timber building?
Prediction
Mass timber buildings are increasingly being built and have a number of environmental benefits. They are lighter than other common building materials like steel, are fire…
Matt Russell
Sep 27, 2022

Comparing logging trucker wages to other industries
Logging
“To solve any problem in forestry, first figure out where the roads will go.”
Matt Russell
Aug 15, 2022

FVS and CBM-CFS3: Comparing two forest simulation models
Forest measurements
Analysts in the forestry community often turn to models to simulate what a forest will look like in the future. Whether it’s simulating a forest management treatment or…
Matt Russell
Aug 4, 2022

Simple volume to weight conversion for US tree species
Forest measurements
Foresters are accustomed to converting units of measure from one to another. Data are often collected in one unit of measure (e.g., the height of a tree in feet), but need…
Matt Russell
Jul 27, 2022

New book: Statistics in Natural Resources: Applications with R
Statistics
At the start of the pandemic in 2020, I was worried. Not just for the serious global health impacts, but also for the workload I would soon be faced with.
Matt Russell
Jul 20, 2022

A forest carbon data dashboard for Minnesota
Carbon
By total forest land area, Minnesota ranks 21st in the United States. At 17.7 million acres, the state has an incredible amount of carbon being stored and sequestered in its…
Matt Russell
Jul 14, 2022

Known unknowns, unknown unknowns
Professional development
Tell me if this has ever happened to you.
Matt Russell
Apr 20, 2022

Carbon credits: quantity versus quality
Carbon
The forestry community is focused on carbon, and the question of quantity versus quality of credits is increasingly being raised. Credits associated with forest carbon are…
Matt Russell
Apr 10, 2022

What does the price of carbon have to be for landowners to enroll in carbon markets?
Carbon
Carbon has quickly become one of the most talked about commodities in our forests today. A variety of new and emerging carbon market programs are paying landowners for the…
Matt Russell
Feb 22, 2022

Forestry is a STEM discipline
Forestry
The Homeland Security Department recently recognized forestry as a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) discipline. Homeland Security has added both the…
Matt Russell
Feb 19, 2022

Most read articles in 2021
Behind the curtain
In 2021, 26 new posts were published to this blog on topics relating to data and forest products. Have an idea for a post you’d like to see? Email Matt with any suggestions.
Matt Russell
Dec 17, 2021

CO2 offsets and trips to the family cabin
Carbon
Often I think that if the numbers behind forest carbon estimates were easier to calculate and interpret, we’d all have a better understanding of the carbon stored and…
Matt Russell
Nov 27, 2021

H-2B workers: essential to the forest products industry
Forestry
In Cabinet Battle #1, one of the most popular songs from the musical Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson discuss the role of the federal government in assuming…
Matt Russell
Nov 13, 2021

Random forests: a tutorial with forestry data
Analytics
Random forests have quickly become one of the most popular analytical techniques used in forestry today. Random forests (RF) are a machine learning technique that differ in…
Matt Russell
Sep 27, 2021

The importance of citizen data scientists in forest analytics
Analytics
As a part of my work with the University of Minnesota Extension, we run the Assessing Vegetation Impacts from Deer program. The AVID program engages citizen scientists to…
Matt Russell
Sep 7, 2021

If 50% of a tree’s biomass is carbon, what’s the other half?
Carbon
“You wrote earlier that “since half of biomass is carbon, I multiply by 0.5.” What is the other half of biomass?”
Matt Russell
Aug 22, 2021

New eBook: Forest Carbon by the Numbers
Carbon
Now available on Amazon is Forest Carbon by the Numbers: Understanding the Hottest Forest Product of the 2020s.
Matt Russell
Aug 12, 2021

Forest carbon: key definitions and numbers in perspective
Carbon
Carbon storage in US forests. Source: USDA Forest Service.
Matt Russell
Aug 8, 2021

Peer review: Lessons learned from reviewing 100 forest science manuscripts
Behind the curtain
This summer I completed my 100th peer review of a manuscript in forest science. Peer review is mostly a non-compensated service to the profession, but the process probably…
Matt Russell
Jul 19, 2021

Forest carbon cheat sheet: updated for 2021
Carbon
The Forest Carbon Cheat Sheet is a quick reference guide for converting forest carbon measurements and understanding typical carbon values at the tree, stand, and landscape…
Matt Russell
Jun 12, 2021

Harvested wood products: a growing contributor to US carbon storage
Carbon
There has been a lot of talk recently about the importance of carbon in forests. Carbon dioxide is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, resulting from burning…
Matt Russell
May 16, 2021

Understanding the forest products industry using NAICS codes
Analytics
To understand any industry, an analyst should be well acquainted with the codes designating the North American Industry Classification Systems. These NAICS codes are often…
Matt Russell
May 8, 2021

Five forest carbon markets for small landowners
Carbon
Voluntary forest carbon markets have expanded considerably over the last year. While compliance markets such as the California Air Resource Board’s Cap-and-Trade Regulation…
Matt Russell
Mar 20, 2021

Private forest landowner demographics compared to the US population
Forestry
Private individuals own a third of the nation’s forests. These private landowners value them primarily due to the beauty, natural values, and wildlife habitat they provide.
Matt Russell
Feb 21, 2021

A #ForestProud moment after listening to the MeatEater podcast
Forestry
The MeatEater Podcast is one of the most widely listened to podcasts in the outdoor genre. It has over 33,000 ratings on Apple Podcasts and consistently ranks as one of the…
Matt Russell
Feb 12, 2021

Forest carbon: a reading list for beginners
Carbon
Carbon is quickly becoming one of the hottest forest products of the 2020s. Carbon sequestration is the reason why trees and forests are being placed front and center in…
Matt Russell
Feb 6, 2021
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