The purpose of this article is to encourage development of an enduring mutually beneficial collaboration between data and information analysts in the US Forest Service’s “Enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program” and forest pathologists and geneticists in the information exchange group (IEG) titled “Genetics and Breeding of Southern Forest Trees.” The goal of this collaborative partnership is to take full advantage of the Forest Health Monitoring capabilities within the Enhanced FIA Program to provide up-to-date information on the incidence of fusiform rust on loblolly and slash pine stands in the Southern United States and to periodically report the status of the rust epidemic in this region. Our initial analysis of 2000–2011 FIA data demonstrates that careful analysis and interpretation of results from continuing FIA observations can provide valuable guidance for optimizing the performance of forest tree improvement programs in this region.
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