Effective monitoring is fundamental for successful adaptive management. The challenges that come with developing a uniform method of fuel monitoring include designing an accessible and sustainable protocol for economic incentive, planning for various outcomes required by each agency, producing accurate and usable data, and proving the reliability of the data compared to traditional methods. Traditional methods can be time consuming and costly. Human error, bias, and lack of standardization can make it challenging to duplicate surveys with consistency and accuracy.

The mission of the LiDAR monitoring program is to develop efficient methods for monitoring our natural and cultural resources thereby providing effective decision support tools to land managers. The project is a collaborative effort developed between U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Universities and the New Mexico Consortium. This multidisciplinary team seeks to integrate LiDAR and modeling techniques to monitor fuels and ecosystems and link fire modeling for land management decision support. The ultimate goal is to standardize monitoring across agencies with uniform terminology, methods and data analysis.