USDA · USDA-141 · record R1439

TreeSearch

Department of Agriculture · Natural Resources and Environment

Overview

Development stage: DeployedSource: c) Deployed – The use case is being actively authorized or utilized to support the functions or mission of an agency.
High-impact designation: Not high-impactSource: c) Not high-impact
Impact justification: Not reported
Start date: 2025-03-17 (day precision)Source: 3/17/2025
Withheld from public reporting: Not reported

Mission

Topic area: Energy and the Environment
Operational functions: Chatbot or virtual assistant Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

There is opportunity to streamline the usability of the US Forest Service (USFS) TreeSearch website, the primary database for Forest Service-sponsored research.

Expected benefits

Currently, Forest Plan Revision team members would search the USFS TreeSearch database of over 60,000 documents manually to find relevant publications to support their work. This AI solution would expedite the team's research process by providing quick, accurate, and context-aware answers from multiple sources.

System outputs

Provides conversational outputs through an AI Chatbot with a Human In The Loop (HITL) performing final data checks and quality assurance.

Technology

AI classification: Generative AISource: Generative AI: AI that generates new or synthetic content (e.g., images, videos, audio, text, code).
System name(s): Advanced platform for Technical Learning and Analytics in the Sciences (ATLAS)
Custom-developed code: Yes
Public source code: Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built: Contract and in-houseSource: c) Developed with both contracting and in-house resources
Vendor (as reported): Google
Vendors (standardized): Google

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII: No
Privacy Impact Assessment: Not reported
Authorization to Operate: Yes
Demographic features: k) None of the above
Training and evaluation data: The US Forest Service TreeSearch website (https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch) is a publicly available website that contains a database of TreeSearch publications.
Federal Data Catalog: Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Pre-deployment testingNo answer reported

AI impact assessmentNo answer reported

Independent reviewNo answer reported

Ongoing monitoringNo answer reported

Operator trainingNo answer reported

Fail-safeNo answer reported

Appeal processNo answer reported

User and public consultationNo answer reported

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported