Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/35322
NEWSLINK Forest Service Program Continues to Evolve The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) continues to build on a federal program that provides technical assistance to private forest owners, enhancing geospatial elements to improve long-term forest management. The Forest Stewardship Program (FSP) was autho- rized by the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978. Most of the assistance through the program comes through state forestry agency partners work- ing with nonindustrial private forest owners. Close to 45 percent of all forestland in the United States (about 354 million acres) is owned by nonindustrial private entities. To improve forest-management planning and report- ing associated with the program, USFS recently tapped Timmons Group to develop a nationwide Geospatial Activity and Accomplishment Tools (GAAT) enterprise solution. Time-sensitive GeoWorld departments such as NetLink, PeopleLink, Product News and Business News now are maintained solely at the GeoPlace.com Web site. Check there often for the latest updates as they happen. GAAT will help support a primary FSP focus: development of comprehensive, multi-resource management plans that provide landowners with the information needed to manage their forests for a variety of products and services. At the heart of FSP efforts is a need to relate on-the-ground accomplishments to priorities identified in state assessments and strategies as well as perfor- mance measures for the USFS State & Private Forestry (S&PF) organization. “USFS and S&PF have an important mission to better understand where work is planned and accomplished across the country and report that in a timely manner,” said Lowell Ballard, director of geospatial solutions for Timmons Group. “With the recent adoption of the state forest assessments in each state, a refined sense of priority for conserva- tion delivery exists. Being able to track planned and completed activities against those defined priorities, state by state and nationally, is imperative to the mission of USFS.” NGA Helps Agencies Respond to Floods, Tornadoes The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has been assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other organizations as they respond to a wave of recent natural disasters across the United States. NGA’s support has centered largely on aid for flooding and tornadoes, disasters that have claimed hundreds of lives and caused billions of dollars in damage in 2011. The agency’s tornado-related assistance primar- ily involved providing damage assessments and other geospatial-intelligence products for disaster response and debris cleanup in seven southern states. NGA is a Department of Defense combat-support agency, but the organization often provides assistance and data for civilian operations and other nonmilitary decision makers. For flooding support, NGA produced predictive analyses and damage assessments as water levels rose along the Mississippi River and workers on the ground undertook efforts to divert water. For example, the agency produced models predicting the effects of releases from the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana—information used by FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as they planned responses to the flooding. NGA produced and consulted prediction models before the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana was opened to alleviate flooding along the Mississippi River. Much of NGA’s work has taken the form of analyses for predicted and actual effects on critical infrastructure, such as roads, railways, airports, hospitals, power plants, ports, refineries, schools and water supplies. 8 GEO W ORLD / JUL Y 2O11 FEMA