Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol (CROP)

In 2006, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management undertook a series of CROP pilot projects as a means of addressing the growing fuel load problem within major forest systems and the realized potential for fostering catastrophic wildfires within these systems across the United States. Focused on biomass removal (versus biomass inventory), the CROP model was initially developed in 2003 by Oregon-based Mater Engineering targeting unlevelized, uncoordinated, and erratic resource offerings from public forest lands at landscape scale.

The key tenets of CROP projects are to:

  1. to facilitate coordination of biomass removal between public agencies;
  2. facilitate the use of long-term multi-agency stewardship contracts to achieve biomass removal;
  3. increase the certainty of "levelized" biomass supply offerings from public agencies;
  4. invite investment back into a sustainable forest management landscape; and,
  5. heighten public trust and support for biomass removal from public lands operating within a transparent process.

Map of the United States with Completed CROPs as of August 2009.
Completed CROPs (August 2009)

Since 2006, almost 20 CROP evaluations have been completed on over 50 million acres of public forestlands across the US, and more CROPS are underway. The CROP evaluations were conducted in geographic regions where forest restoration and fuel load reduction efforts are a high priority. For each CROP, detailed resource offering maps (ROMs) are provided showing the following biomass removal data for every species to be removed during the next five-year period:

  • Volume (by mmbf; green/dry tons; ccf ) with conversions
  • Diameter sizes: less than 4-inches, 4- to 7-inches, 7- to 9-inches, 9- to 12-inches, and greater than 12-inches
  • Species (every species evaluated for resource flow)
  • Harvest "type": fuel load reduction, timber sales, pre-commercial thinning ( PCT), or post and pole
  • Location of resource offering
  • NEPA phase for each resource offering
  • Road accessibility for each resource offering

CROP Results

Detailed results of each CROP conducted in the United States are provided below in three forms:

  1. A PowerPoint summary of the CROP results for a given region;
  2. A summary of the ROMs for that region; and
  3. A full ROM report for that region.

Additionally, a new interactive CROP website has been developed to make data review more easily accessible. Currently, only the Utah CROP Appears on this site, but nine more CROP reports are scheduled to be placed on the interactive website in the next few months. Eventually all existing CROP reports will be placed on the interactive website, and results of any new CROP projects undertaken will automatically be reported on the interactive website.

Colorado Region

Idaho Region

Southwest Idaho

North Central Idaho

Mississippi Region

Missouri Region

Montana Region

Western Montana

New Mexico Region

Northeastern Region

Oregon Region

Western Oregon

South Carolina Regions

Investors should be cautious when reviewing the small diameter volume estimate offerings from the National Forests in South Carolina. They are very limited due to: 1. national forests are a small percentage of the land base and forested areas in South Carolina; and, 2. products grow very quickly out of the small diameter class, especially on the coast.

South Carolina 1 Region

South Carolina 2 Region

Southeast Alaska Region

Southern Oregon and Northern California Region

Tahoe Region (California)

Utah Region

Washington Region

Northeast Washington

Wyoming Region

Location: http://www.forestsandrangelands.gov/Woody_Biomass/supply/CROP/index.shtml
Last modified: Tuesday August 25 2009