Exhibit 4a BSNF Data Collection Standards.pdf

Exhibit 3A: Survey and Inventory Data Collection Standards The Contractor shall adhere to these minimum GPS system and tolerance standards: The following are the standard Forest Service minimum GPS reception tolerance parameters. These parameters affect the accuracy of GPS data and shall be adhered to by the Contractor. The Contractor may use any resource-grade, Forest Service-approved portable data recorder and wireless GPS receiver or data recorder with an integrated GPS receiver and associated software that meets FS GPS standards and data requirements. Final products must be delivered as ESRI feature classes or shapefiles.

Protocol

NMEA 0183

GPS Datum: GCS North American 1983 or D_North_American_1983

Quality (these are the tolerances, but BNF recognizes that poorer quality data may occur)

3D Mode only

GPS Data Collection minimums (as a rule, these are the tolerances, but BNF recognizes that poorer quality data may occur)

GPS Accuracy Distance Minimum- 30 feet

Confidence- 95%

Coordinates

System- Universal Transverse Mercator

Zone- 11 North

Datum- GCS North American 1983 or NAD 1983 (Continental United States)

Altitude Reference- MSL

Geoid- DMA 10X10 (Global)

Coordinate Units- Meters

Altitude Units- Meters

The Contractor shall adhere to the following rare or invasive plant species data collection standards:

• Complete the GPS format associated with each area surveyed and each rare plant population or invasive plant infestation. Refer to Exhibit 3B - Plant Species Inventory Data Fields and Lists of Values for the specific data fields for each GIS feature (i.e. areas surveyed and rare plant populations or invasive plant infestations).

• GPS attributes for each of the data fields defined as mandatory must be collected for every area surveyed and every infestation. The Contractor shall take GPS data points to delineate the specific areas surveyed/inventoried and/or treated on each day. Tabular attributes for surveyed/inventoried and/or treated areas shall include Date, Examiner, Ownership, Location, Plant Species, Site ID, Phenology, Distribution, Cover Class, Feet from Water, Comments, Treated (Yes or No) and Gallons Applied for which the area was surveyed/inventoried or treated as well as Total Acres for each surveyed area.

• The entire area identified by a task order to be surveyed/inventoried and/or treated must be GPS’d to illustrate the entire area and the rare or invasive plants for which the area was surveyed/inventoried and/or treated. Within the surveyed area, all rare or invasive plant species detected will be GPS’d in species-specific plant populations or infestations. Surveyed/treated areas and populations/infestations shall be mapped as polygons or as points that accurately define the perimeter of the population/infestation and dense patches of rare plants/invasive plants within the perimeter. The task order will specify whether points or polygons shall be used. Note that polygons consisting only of four GPS points, one at each corner, are not acceptable. The entire perimeter must be GPS’d.

• Collect spatial data for each rare plant population/invasive plant infestation located during the inventory using a Forest Service-approved resource grade portable data recorder and wireless GPS receiver or data recorder with an integrated GPS receiver.

• The Contractor shall convert GPS features created with software other than ESRI to an ESRI feature class or shapefile format.

The Contractor shall adhere to the following rare plant/invasive plant inventory standards:

• The Contractor shall follow a grid system that provides a thorough search pattern throughout the entirety of the specified survey/inventory sites in each work area to locate, map and record all rare plant populations and invasive plant infestations.

• Rare plant or invasive plant species of the same species in a scattered or scattered/patchy distribution and located within 100 feet of each other may be considered part of the same infestation.

• Isolated individuals/patches located more than 100 feet from other plants of the same plant species shall be considered and mapped as separate populations or infestations.

• Where multiple populations/infestations of different rare and/or invasive plant species exist at the same site, the Contractor shall collect inventory data for each species as a separate population/infestation.

Example Survey and Inventory Procedure:

The ability to identify and detect rare and invasive plants can vary enormously based on slope, terrain, plant phenology, surrounding plant community, other invasive plants present and season of survey. This section describes how the BNF conducts survey and inventory work. We have found this procedure to work very well. If you have another system that works well, other procedures are acceptable as long as they produce work that conforms to at least minimum contract performance specifications.

Refer to Forest Service-provided maps and shapefiles to locate survey area(s). Once at the site, determine appropriate gridding area for the day. Rare plants occur in a variety of habitats and settings.

Invasive plant species occur primarily in upland cover types on west and south-facing slopes, although they are also often found in riparian areas, aspen clones and meadows. Most upland plant communities are comprised of bunchgrass habitat types with a variety of forbs and scattered sagebrush-steppe communities, generally on moderate slopes with sufficient soil depth. Conifer cover at inventory sites is generally sparse. The Contractor may avoid vertical rock outcrops and cliffs that cannot be safely traversed and heavily timbered areas with more than 50% canopy closure (note that these areas may already be delineated as places to avoid on inventory site maps provided by the COR).

Climb uphill to top of survey area and spread out the crew into a grid formation. The distance between crew members in this grid formation is based on a number of factors, including ability to identify plants, phenology of plants, habitat type, and terrain. For example, if spotted knapweed or Lemhi penstemon are in the rosette stage and identifiable no more than 10 feet away, two crewmembers should not be more than 20 feet apart or the next pass should be less than 20 feet apart.

Follow the contours of the hillside for the extent of the inventory area. Each person should remain at the same elevation for one entire pass. Once everyone has completed their pass, the crew will drop down lower in elevation. If the lowest person on the previous grid was at an elevation of 5000 ft., the highest person on the next pass would be at an elevation on 4980 ft. (assuming that the grid distance is 20 ft.).

Continue this gridding pattern for the entire extent of the survey area. Upon locating target rare plants or invasive plants, collect inventory tabular and spatial data (including perimeter) of each rare plant populations or invasive plant infestation located during the survey using a resource grade, Forest Service-approved portable data recorder and wireless GPS receiver or data recorder with an integrated GPS receiver. Collect required attribute data for each rare plant population or invasive plant infestation.

Collect points around the perimeter of the population/infestation. If multiple populations/infestations of different rare/invasive plant species exist at the same site, the Contractor shall gather spatial and attribute data for each species as a separate population/infestation.

The Contractor GPS the day’s work delineating the area(s) gridded for survey that day. The Contractor shall create an ESRI shapefile depicting the specific areas surveyed and populations/infestations inventoried to submit to the COR as a deliverable product per contract performance specifications.