Scientists & Staff

Brian F. Walters

Forester

Forest Inventory & Analysis

1992 Folwell Avenue

St. Paul, MN, 55108-1034

Phone: 651-649-5135

Contact Brian F. Walters

News Releases

Reforestation has Growing Potential as Tool in Managing CarbonFebruary 26, 2018
Strongest Sinks of Carbon are in Dynamic LandscapesDecember 7, 2015
On the Road to Paris: Forest Service Scientists Improve U.S. Forest Carbon AccountingNovember 30, 2015

Current Research

I am a Forester in the Northern Research Station's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. My primary responsibilities involve providing data analysis and research assistance to the forest carbon estimation and reporting group. This program is responsible for reporting on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in the forest land category as part of the United States' commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Education

Michigan State University, M.S. Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing, 2008
Michigan State University, B.S. Forestry, 2005

Featured Publications & Products

Domke, Grant M.; Walters, Brian F.; Nowak, David J.; Smith, James ; Ogle, Stephen M.; Coulston, J.W. ; Wirth, T.C. 2020. Greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forest land, woodlands, and urban trees in the United States, 1990-2018. Resource Update FS-227. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 5 p.
Stanke, Hunter ; Finley, Andrew O.; Weed, Aaron S.; Walters, Brian F.; Domke, Grant M. 2020. rFIA: An R package for estimation of forest attributes with the US Forest Inventory and Analysis database. Environmental Modelling & Software
Nave, L.E. ; Walters, B.F. ; Hofmeister, K.L. ; Perry, C.H. ; Mishra, U. ; Domke, G.M. ; Swanston, C.W. 2019. The role of reforestation in carbon sequestration. New Forests
Smith, James E.; Domke, Grant M.; Nichols, Michael C.; Walters, Brian F. 2019. Carbon stocks and stock change on federal forest lands of the United States. Ecosphere
Woodall, C.W.; Walters, B.F.; Westfall, J.A. 2012. Tracking downed dead wood in forests over time: Development of a piece matching algorithm for line intercept sampling. Forest Ecology and Management. 277: 196-204.

Publications & Products

Domke, Grant M.; Oswalt, Sonja N.; Walters, Brian F.; Morin, Randall S. 2020. Tree planting has the potential to increase carbon sequestration capacity of forests in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Morin, Randall S.; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Halman, Joshua ; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Lister, Tonya W.; McWilliams, William H.; Nelson, Mark D.; Riemann, Rachel I; Walters, Brian F.; Woodall, Christopher W. 2020. Vermont Forests 2017. Resource Bulletin NRS-120.
Morin, Randall S.; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Horton, Jonathan ; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Lister, Tonya W.; McWilliams, William H.; Nelson, Mark D.; Riemann, Rachel ; Walters, Brian F.; Woodall, Christopher W. 2020. New Hampshire Forests 2017. Resour. Bull. NRS-119.
Domke, Grant M.; Walters, Brian F.; Nowak, David J.; Smith, James ; Ogle, Stephen M.; Coulston, John W. 2019. Greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forest land and urban trees in the United States, 1990-2017. Resource Update FS-178. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Næsset, Erik ; Liknes, Greg C.; Chen, Qi ; Walters, Brian F.; Saatchi, Sassan ; Herold, Martin. 2019. Using a Finer Resolution Biomass Map to Assess the Accuracy of a Regional, Map-Based Estimate of Forest Biomass. Surveys in Geophysics
Ma, Wu ; Domke, Grant M.; D'Amato, Anthony W.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Walters, Brian F.; Deo, Ram K. 2018. Using matrix models to estimate aboveground forest biomass dynamics in the eastern USA through various combinations of LiDAR, Landsat, and forest inventory data. Environmental Research Letters
Ma, Wu ; Woodall, Christopher W.; Domke, Grant M.; D'Amato, Anthony W.; Walters, Brian F. 2018. Stand age versus tree diameter as a driver of forest carbon inventory simulations in the northeastern U.S.. Canadian Journal of Forest Research
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Chen, Qi ; Gormanson, Dale D.; Walters, Brian F. 2018. The shelf-life of airborne laser scanning data for enhancing forest inventory inferences. Remote Sensing of Environment
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Chen, Qi ; Walters, Brian F.; Kaisershot, Daniel J. 2018. The effects of global positioning system receiver accuracy on airborne laser scanning-assisted estimates of aboveground biomass. Remote Sensing of Environment
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Stehman, Stephen V; Liknes, Greg C.; Næsset, Erik ; Sannier, Christophe ; Walters, Brian F. 2018. The effects of imperfect reference data on remote sensing-assisted estimators of land cover class proportions. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Meneguzzo, Dacia M.; Haugen, David E.; Walters, Brian F.; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Morin, Randall S.; Nelson, Mark D.; Piva, Ronald J.; Smith, James E. 2018. Northern Great Plains Forests 2015. Resour. Bull. NRS-116 Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 108 p.
Nave, Lucas E.; Domke, Grant M.; Hofmeister, Kathryn L.; Mishra, Umakant; Perry, Charles H.; Walters, Brian F.; Swanston, Christopher W. 2018. Reforestation can sequester two petagrams of carbon in US topsoils in a century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Walters, Brian F.; Bergstrand, Kristen ; Piva, Ronald J. 2018. Minnesota Timber Industry, 2014. Resource Update FS-156. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 6 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Garbisch, Brian ; Piva, Ronald J. 2018. South Dakota Timber Industry, 2014. Resource Update FS-157. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 5 p.
Woodall, C.W. ; Westfall, J.A. ; D'Amato, A.W. ; Foster, J.R. ; Walters, B.F. 2018. Decadal changes in tree range stability across forests of the eastern U.S.. Forest Ecology and Management
Domke, G.M.; Perry, C.H.; Walters, B.F.; Nave, L.E.; Woodall, C.W.; Swanston, C.W. 2017. Toward inventory-based estimates of soil organic carbon in forests of the United States. Ecological Applications
Johnson, Kristofer D; Domke, Grant M; Russell, Matthew B; Walters, Brian; Hom, John; Peduzzi, Alicia; Birdsey, Richard; Dolan, Katelyn; Huang, Wenli. 2017. Estimating aboveground live understory vegetation carbon in the United States. Environmental Research Letters. 12(12): 125010. 11p.
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Chen, Qi ; Walters, Brian F. 2017. Multivariate inference for forest inventories using auxiliary airborne laser scanning data. Forest Ecology and Management
Miles, Patrick D.; Crocker, Susan J.; Walters, Brian F.; Kepler, Dennis. 2017. Forests of Minnesota, 2016. Resource Update FS-115. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Morin, R.S.; Domke, G.M.; Walters, B.F.; Wilmot, S. 2017. Forests of Vermont, 2016. Resource Update FS-119. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Morin, Randall S.; Domke, Grant M.; Walters, Brian F. 2017. Forests of West Virginia, 2016. Resource Update FS-123. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Russell, Matthew B.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Potter, Kevin M.; Walters, Brian F.; Domke, Grant M.; Oswalt, Christopher M. 2017. Interactions between white-tailed deer density and the composition of forest understories in the northern United States. Forest Ecology and Management. 384: 26-33.
Walters, Brian F. 2017. Forests of South Dakota, 2016. Resource Update FS-110. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Settle, Jeff; Piva, Ronald J. 2017. Indiana timber industry, 2013. Resource Update FS-116. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 5 p.
Domke, Grant M.; Perry, Charles H. (Hobie); Walters, Brian F.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Russell, Matthew B.; Smith, James E. 2016. Estimating litter carbon stocks on forest land in the United States. Science of The Total Environment. 557-558: 469-478.
Harris, N. L.; Hagen, S. C.; Saatchi, S. S.; Pearson, T. R. H.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Domke, Grant M.; Braswell, B. H.; Walters, Brian F.; Brown, S.; Salas, W.; Fore, A.; Yu, Y. 2016. Attribution of net carbon change by disturbance type across forest lands of the conterminous United States. Carbon Balance and Management. 11(1): 24. 21 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13021-016-0066-5
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Vibrans, Alexander C.; Sannier, Christophe ; Næsset, Erik ; Hansen, Matthew C.; Walters, Brian F.; Lingner, Débora V. 2016. Methods for evaluating the utilities of local and global maps for increasing the precision of estimates of subtropical forest area. Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Miles, Patrick D.; VanderSchaaf, Curtis L.; Barnett, Charles; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Gormanson, Dale D.; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Lister, Tonya W.; McWilliams, William H.; Morin, Randall S.; Nelson, Mark D.; Perry, Charles H. (Hobie); Riemann, Rachel I.; Smith, James E.; Walters, Brian F.; Westfall, Jim; Woodall, Christopher W. 2016. Minnesota Forests 2013. Resource Bulletin NRS-104. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 134 p.
Nelson, Mark D.; Barnett, Charles J.; Brewer, Matt; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Domke, Grant M.; Gormanson, Dale D.; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Lister, Tonya W.; Matthews, Stephen; McWilliams, William H.; Meneguzzo, Dacia M.; Miles, Patrick D.; Morin, Randall S.; Piva, Ronald J.; Riemann, Rachel; Smith, James E.; Walters, Brian F.; Westfall, Jim; Woodall, Christopher W. 2016. Iowa Forests, 2013. Resour. Bull. NRS-102. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 124 p.
Piva, Ronald J.; Treiman, Thomas B.; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Gormanson, Dale D.; Griffith, Douglas M.; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Lister, Tonya W.; Luppold, William G.; McWilliams, William H.; Miles, Patrick D.; Morin, Randall S.; Nelson, Mark D.; Perry, Charles H. (Hobie); Riemann, Rachel; Smith, James E.; Walters, Brian F.; Woodall, Christopher W. 2016. Missouri Forests 2013. Resour. Bull. NRS-108. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 116 p.
Walters, Brian F. 2016. Forests of South Dakota, 2015. Resource Update FS-82. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Vongroven, Steve; Piva, Ronald J. 2016. Minnesota timber industry: an assessment of timber product output and use, 2010. Resour. Bull. NRS-101. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 75 p.
Woodall, C. W.; Walters, B. F.; Russell, M. B.; Coulston, J. W.; Domke, G. M.; D'Amato, A. W.; Sowers, P. A. 2016. A Tale of Two Forest Carbon Assessments in the Eastern United States: Forest Use Versus Cover as a Metric of Change. Ecosystems
Crocker, Susan J.; Walters, Brian F.; Morin, Randall S. 2015. Visual analysis of forest health using story maps: a tale of two forest insect pests. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8-10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 315.
Domke, Grant M.; Perry, Charles H. (Hobie); Walters, Brian F.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Nave, Lucas E.; Swanston, Chris. 2015. Estimating carbon in forest soils of the United States using the national forest inventory. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8-10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 361.
Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Moser, W. Keith; Hansen, Mark H.; Gormanson, Dale D.; Hatfield, Mark A.; Sowers, Paul A.; Dockry, Michael J.; Emery, Marla R.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Walters, Brian F.; Domke, Grant M.; Gilbert, Jonathan; Wrobel, Alexandra. 2015. Forest resources within the Lake States ceded territories 1980 - 2013. Resour. Bull. NRS-96. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 89 p. [CD-ROM included].
Liknes, Greg C.; Crocker, Susan J.; Morin, Randall S.; Walters, Brian F. 2015. Hurricane impacts on forest resources in the Eastern United States: a post-sandy assessment. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8-10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 173-177.
Walters, Brian F. 2015. Forests of South Dakota, 2014. Resource Update FS-41. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Domke, Grant M.; Woodall, Christopher W. 2015. Leveraging FIA data for analysis beyond forest reports: examples from the world of carbon. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8-10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 124.
Woodall, C.W.; Russell, M.B.; Walters, B.F.; D'Amato, A.W.; Fraver, S.; Domke, G.M. 2015. Net carbon flux of dead wood in forests of the Eastern US. Oecologia. 177: 861-874.
Woodall, C.W.; Russell, M.B.; Walters, B.F.; D'Amato, A.W.; Zhu, K.; Saatchi, S.S. 2015. Forest production dynamics along a wood density spectrum in eastern US forests. Trees. 29(1): 299-310.
Woodall, Christopher W.; Coulston, John W.; Domke, Grant M.; Walters, Brian F.; Wear, David N.; Smith, James E.; Andersen, Hans-Erik; Clough, Brian J.; Cohen, Warren B.; Griffith, Douglas M.; Hagen, Stephen C.; Hanou, Ian S.; Nichols, Michael C.; Perry, Charles H. (Hobie); Russell, Matthew B.; Westfall, Jim; Wilson, Barry T. (Ty). 2015. The U.S. forest carbon accounting framework: stocks and stock change, 1990-2016. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-154. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 49 p.
Woodall, Christopher W.; Walters, Brian F.; Coulston, John; D'Amato, A.W.; Domke, Grant M.; Russell, M.B.; Sowers, Paul. 2015. Monitoring network confirms land use change is a substantial component of the forest carbon sink in the eastern United States. Scientific Reports. 5: 17028.
Domke, Grant M.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Walters, Brian F.; McRoberts, Ronald E.; Hatfield, Mark A. 2014. Strategies to compensate for the effects of nonresponse on forest carbon baseline estimates from the national forest inventory of the United States. Forest Ecology and Management. 315: 112-120.
Haugen, David E.; Walters, Brian F.; Piva, Ronald J.; Neumann, David. 2014. Michigan timber industry—an assessment of timber product output and use, 2008. Resour. Bull. NRS-93. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 67 p.
Walters, Brian F. 2014. Forests of South Dakota, 2013. Resource Update FS-2 Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-2.
Domke, Grant M.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Walters, Brian F.; Smith, James E. 2013. From Models to Measurements: Comparing Downed Dead Wood Carbon Stock Estimates in the U.S. Forest Inventory. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59949. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059949
Piva, Ronald J.; Walters, Brian F.; Haugan, Douglas D.; Josten, Gregory J.; Butler, Brett J.; Crocker, Susan J.; Domke, Grant M.; Hatfield, Mark A.; Kurtz, Cassandra M.; Lister, Andrew J.; Lister, Tonya W.; Moser, W. Keith; Nelson, Mark D.; Woodall, Christopher W. 2013. South Dakota's Forests 2010. Resour. Bull. NRS-81. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 60 p.
Tavernia, Brian G.; Nelson, Mark D.; Goerndt, Michael E.; Walters, Brian F.; Toney, Chris. 2013. Changes in forest habitat classes under alternative climate and land-use change scenarios in the northeast and midwest, USA. Mathematical and Computational Forestry & Natural-Resource Sciences (MCFNS). 5(2): 135-150.
Walters, Brian F. 2013. South Dakota's forest resources, 2012. Res. Note. NRS-164. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Piva, Ronald J.; Hatfield, Mark A.; Domke, Grant M.; Haugen, David E. 2013. Forests of the Black Hills National Forest 2011. Resour. Bull. NRS-83. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 36 p.
Woodall, C.W.; Walters, B.F.; Oswalt, S.N.; Domke, G.M.; Toney, C.; Gray, A.N. 2013. Biomass and carbon attributes of downed woody materials in forests of the United States. Forest Ecology and Management. 305: 48-59.
Liknes, Greg C.; Woodall, Christopher W.; Walters, Brian F.; Goeking, Sara A. 2012. Unlocking the climate riddle in forested ecosystems. In: Morin, Randall S.; Liknes, Greg C., comps. Moving from status to trends: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2012; 2012 December 4-6; Baltimore, MD. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-105. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. [CD-ROM]: 99-103.
McRoberts, Ronald E.; Walters, Brian F. 2012. Statistical inference for remote sensing-based estimates of net deforestation. Remote Sensing of Environment. 124: 394-401.
Meneguzzo, D.M.; Walters, B. 2012. Nebraska's forest resources, 2011. Res. Note. NRS-152. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Nelson, Mark D.; Tavernia, Brian G.; Toney, Chris; Walters, Brian F. 2012. Relating FIA data to habitat classifications via tree-based models of canopy cover. In: Morin, Randall S.; Liknes, Greg C., comps. Moving from status to trends: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2012; 2012 December 4-6; Baltimore, MD. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-105. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. [CD-ROM]: 254-259.
Tavernia, Brian G.; Nelson, Mark D.; Walters, Brian F.; Toney, Chris. 2012. Projected trends in forest habitat classes under climate and land-use change scenarios. In: Morin, Randall S.; Liknes, Greg C., comps. Moving from status to trends: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2012; 2012 December 4-6; Baltimore, MD. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-105. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. [CD-ROM]: 119-122.
Walters, Brian F. 2012. South Dakota's forest resources, 2011. Res. Note. NRS-132. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Adams, Dennis M.; Piva, Ronald J. 2012. Nebraska timber industry: an assessment of timber product output and use, 2009. Resour. Bull. NRS-69. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 54 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Rider, Daniel R.; Piva, Ronald J. 2012. Maryland timber industry: an assessment of timber product output and use, 2008. Resour. Bull. NRS-64. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 52 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Settle, Jeff; Piva, Ronald J. 2012. Indiana timber industry: an assessment of timber product output and use, 2008. Resour. Bull. NRS-63. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 72 p.
Johnson, Tony G.; Piva, Ronald J.; Walters, Brian F.; et., al. 2011. National pulpwood production, 2008. Resour. Bull. SRS-171. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 57 p.
Walters, Brian F.; Piva, Ronald J. 2011. South Dakota's forest resources, 2010. Res. Note. NRS-111. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.

National Research Highlights

Map of downed and dead woody material. Grant Domke, USDA Forest Service

Better Estimates of Carbon Inventory in Dead Wood Now Available

Year: 2013

Researchers with the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program have sampled downed and dead woody material (DWM) since 2002 so most U.S. states now have a complete cycle of DWM data. As a result, for the first time, researchers used field measurements to obtain estimates of DWM biomass and carbon stocks for the FIA program's report and for DWM carbon estimates in the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory report.

Last modified: Friday, March 13, 2020