FS, Endowment Announce Forestry Analytics for Carbon Tracking Platform

The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities have announced the Beta launch of the Forestry Analytics for Carbon Tracking (FACT) platform, a science-based platform that addresses the growing challenge and need for reliable forest sector carbon data at no cost to users.

Landowners and businesses face increasing pressure to report and communicate carbon information, but existing data can be fragmented, inconsistent, and costly to aggregate. FACT compiles previously siloed public and private data into one free, accessible, and transparent place, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. forest products in domestic and global markets.

The FACT Beta launch serves as a working release and active improvement period during which the platform will continue to be optimized, functionality will evolve, and new information will be incorporated. Valuable input gathered during this stage will shape the platform ahead of its full Version 1 release, which is planned for summer 2027.

“Forest and harvested wood product carbon data has been scattered across public and private sources for years, making it challenging for landowners, manufacturers, and researchers to work from a consistent foundation of information,” says Pete Madden, President and CEO of the Endowment. “FACT will make standardized, transparent data easier to access and use, strengthening the competitiveness of American forest products while supporting U.S. jobs and rural economies.”

FACT will complement tools and datasets people already use across the forest products value chain rather than replacing them. 

The platform is being designed to:

• Provide forest land managers with a standardized method to convert their forest inventories to carbon stocks and create small area carbon estimations.  

• Give harvested wood product manufacturers the tools to determine and report the carbon impacts of their operations.

• Support the consideration of embodied and displaced carbon estimates in design and architectural applications.

• Advance research by identifying gaps in primary carbon data.

As forest carbon research advances and published life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations are updated, FACT will continue incorporating new information. This approach will allow the platform to evolve as science, data, and user needs change.

FACT is being developed through a public-private effort led by the Endowment, the Forest Service, and the forest sector, with input from scientists, engineers, and practitioners. The effort is supported through a collaborative agreement including the American Forest Foundation, American Wood Council, Composite Panel Assn., Decorative Hardwoods Association, Hardwood Federation, Hardwood Manufacturers Assn., National Alliance of Forest Owners, National Hardwood Lumber Assn., National Wood Flooring Assn., and Woodpack Global.

To explore the FACT Beta and test its tools, visit forestryanalytics.org.