A New Statistics Book (and it's free!)

By Hans Schreuder (now retired), Richard Ernst, and Hugo Ramirez Maldonado

The US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Station has just published a book about inventory and sampling. It is based on the old favorite by Frank Freese, which has been around for a long time. Freese wrote a great book that was relatively easy to read and understand. The new book is a gutsy step to try and match it.

The good news is that they have succeeded. The approach is relatively simple, often using questions and answers to make points. The math is kept to a minimum and they show numerical examples. At times it does get a bit ugly, but no more than necessary - the same was true in Freese. The point is that the authors made a real effort to be readable and useful. That is both rare and admirable.

Even better news is that you can find and download it on the internet. Go to:

http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr126.html

The download is only about 1MB, and goes fairly quickly even with a dial up connection. There are also instructions for how to order a printed copy on that internet page as follows: 

E-mail: rschneider@fs.fed.us 
And include this information: 

• Your complete mailing address

• Your telephone number (in case there is a problem with your request) 

• Your e-mail address 

• The publication title 

• The publication's series number (example: RMRS-GTR-1, RP-RM-#, RB-INT-#)

The title is Statistical techniques for sampling and monitoring natural resources. The authors are Hans Schreuder (now retired), Richard Ernst, and Hugo Ramirez Maldonado. The series number is RMRS-GTR-126, with 81 pages of text, and another 30 of appendix material. It's worth the time to check out. It is an admirable job, and a credit to the USFS that they would encourage and produce such a product.

The USFS has a place on the internet page to make comments. I, for one, told them they were doing a great job with this kind of publication.