Collaboration and Coordination

Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment today requires coordination, cooperation, and collaboration among many individuals and groups. Where do you go for help? Here is a good start.

The Resource Information Group (RIG) is responsible for policy, direction, and guidance regarding collaboration, coordination, and cooperation related to Inventorying, Monitoring, and Assessments on National Forests and National Grasslands. Specific responsibilities include developing technical guides and other resources for working with internal and external partners. Such tools can help program management, planning, standardization, corporate information management, accomplishment reporting, and quality assurance and control. We work with many others inside and outside the Forest Service to accomplish our job and share resources.

The National Partnership Office

The Forest Service's National Partnership Office provides many additional resources, including Tools and Guides. They distribute most of their material through the Partnership Resource Center, which the Forest Service operates jointly with the National Forest Foundation. Many of the following resources were selected from those available through the National Partnership Office and the Partnership Resource Center.

Agency Agreements

• Grants and Agreement Deskguide (PDF, 2.35 MB) - the Instructor's Manual used for Forest Service Training.
• Grants and Agreement Templates - the Partnership Resource Center's web page for various agreements that the Forest Service uses to enter into projects with partnering organizations.

Interagency Topics

• Cooperative conservation – Website that supports and describes efforts of landowners, communities, conservation groups, industry, and governmental agencies who join together to conserve our environment. Provides links to training opportunities.
• Cooperative Conservation 'Action' Stories
• National Partnership Resource Center: Stories - collections of success stories and case studies about collaborative efforts and partnerships addressing natural resource issues.

Tools

• National Partnership Resource Center: Tools and Guides – Specific tools and links to additional resources.
• Transition Management
  The Forest Service "Hand-Over Memo" is a template for staff to use when changes in leadership occur and a smooth transition is needed between current Agency leadership, the partners they have been working with, and the new leadership the partnering groups will soon rely on (also available from the National Partnership Resource Center: Tools and Guides).
  • Leadership Transition Process Memo (PDF, 32 KB)
  • Transition Management of Agency Personnel (PDF, 30 KB)
• National Park Service Community Toolbox – A wide array of tools for working with individuals or groups, whether designing a meeting or reaching out through mail or other media.
• Environmental Protection Agency Tools for Public Involvement – Specific tools as well as links to additional resources.
• Forest Sustainability Indicator Toolkit – A flexible guide to developing indicators of sustainability based on Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators. The guide is a product of the 7th American Forest Congress Communities Committee.
• After-Action Reviews: Overview (PDF, 89 KB); Worksheet (PDF, 47 KB)
• Criteria and Indicators (PDF, 191 KB) – A list of criteria and indicators categorized by the Forest Service’s Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and containing multiple examples of criteria and indicators that could be useful for specific monitoring or evaluation projects.

Laws, Regulations, and Resources

• Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) - A Sunshine Law that governs collaboration and coordination.
  • Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Management Overview - U.S. General Services Administration description of FACA management.
  • National Partnership Guide: Common Challenges for Partnerships: Federal Advisory Committee Act - Partnership Resource Center resource.
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Information: Federal Advisory Committee Act - summary of BLM FACA and guidance, helpful if working with the BLM.
  • National Park Service Guide to the Federal Advisory Committee Act - helpful if working with the National Park Service (NPS).
• Answers to Frequently Asked Questions of USDA Forest Service Employees Regarding Copyright and Fair Use: Promoting Awareness and Highlighting Grey Areas (April 2005) (PDF, 85 KB) - responds to common questions about sharing information.
• USDA Information Quality Activities - a U.S. Department of Agriculture webpage with background for the Information Quality Act. Questions about data quality can bear on issues related to coordination and collaboration.

Staff Contact

Peter B. Williams
Collaborative Planning and Multiparty Monitoring Specialist
US Forest Service, EMC-RIG
970-295-5708 or