Idaho Bulletin 170-5-1

February 14, 2005

SUBJECT:  CGI - Cartography and Geographic Information Systems
                          Digitizing Field Boundaries Toolkit

TO:   All Employees, NRCS, Idaho

Purpose. To inform employees of the requirement to digitize field boundaries in Toolkit 2004.

Expiration Date.    September 30, 2005

Background: In 2000, the Department of Agriculture decided to augment the Customer Service Toolkit by incorporating a geospatial component into the application. Not having the ability to georeference field boundaries led to a reduced emphasis on the inventory step of conservation planning. Requiring field office staff to digitize field boundaries will improve consistency across State lines, and will improve consistency in the inventory process for conservation planning. Digitized field boundaries also will improve the Agency’s ability to conduct statistical analyses on natural resource issues and display these analyses through Geographic Information System (GIS) products. This type of GIS resource analysis can be useful to local conservation districts by helping them identify local resource trends.

The Field Office Business Tools Coordinating Council received approval from the Chief to establish policy requiring the digitization of field boundaries as an ongoing, integral part of conservation planning. The implementation of this policy will coincide with the distribution and deployment of Toolkit 2004. All Idaho Field Offices are required to digitize field boundaries in all Customer Service Toolkit (CST) plans and contracts. If this is not being done already, field offices are directed to start immediately. Field offices where FSA has completed field digitizing will import that data into CST.

If you have any further questions regarding Toolkit 2004 call Glenn Shea at 685-6979 or Roger Hirshman at 378-5785.
 

RICHARD SIMS
State Conservationist

< Back to 170 Expired Bulletins