Interagency Ecological Site Team Established

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed this past spring between NRCS and the USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and USDA Forest Service (FS) to establish a Federal Interagency Team responsible for developing a standardized method to define, delineate, and describe terrestrial ecological sites. Dan Caudle, NRCS rangeland management specialist at the Central National Technology Support Center in Fort Worth, Texas, has been assigned as the lead team member for NRCS. Additionally, the team will cooperatively develop an ecological site manual to document this standardized method. This cooperative conservation effort to be utilized by the three agencies and others will result in a significant savings of time, money, and effort by each agency as a result of closer cooperation and coordination, as well as utilization of uniform procedures.

BLM, FS, and NRCS all share a commitment to the use of science-based technical processes to sustain and enhance natural resources and the environment. This MOU is historically significant in that it recognizes the importance of ecological site descriptions as the basic resource and guidance document for the purpose of describing and interpreting ecological sites. It also reaffirms the desire of all three agencies to work closely and cooperatively in the development and use of standardized technology to conserve, improve, and sustain the nation’s natural resources and environment.
Your contacts are George Peacock, NRCS National Grazing Lands Team Leader, at 817-509-3211 or Dennis Thompson, National Range and Grazing Lands Specialist, at 202-720-5010.