Assisting the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with Sites for Assessment on Public Lands within California and northwestern Nevada

This Information Bulletin (IB) provides guidance regarding Bureau of Land Management (BLM) assistance to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for the purpose of collecting data from rangelands administered by the BLM in California and northwestern Nevada.

In the course of conducting the 2021 NRCS Rangeland Resources Assessment as part of the National Resource Inventory (NRI), the NRCS may wish to dig soil pits or other small-scale ground disturbances on BLM lands. On average, a ground disturbance measures 20 inches deep and 12 inches in diameter. Depending on the actual size of the ground disturbance and each Field Office’s Cultural Resource Specialist’s direction, Protocol Exemption 1A may apply to some, none, or all of these locations.

Table 1 presents the breakout by county of the number of locations on BLM public lands that will be randomly selected for assessment.  The table provides a first approximation of workload for Field Offices in 2021. The State Office will provide exact locations to each Field Office once NRCS finalizes selection. GIS assistance may be required to open the zipped files when you receive the locations.

NRCS will provide further details about its data collection activities on BLM-managed lands, after it review to eliminate any site locations that do not meet NRI rangeland definitions or are deemed inaccessible due to slope, distance from roads, etc.

Table 1: Distribution of Randomly Selected NRI Point Locations by California County in 2021

You may be requested to assist the NRCS by doing the following:

• Review site locations to ascertain that assessment locations are on BLM-administered lands.
• Ensure that the NRCS can access those sites through any locked gates or other barriers.
• Identify sites that have no access.
• Provide guidance to NRCS on best methods to access sites in Wilderness Areas and Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) to assure preservation of wilderness character.
• Ensure compliance for protection of cultural resources and special-status plant and wildlife species.

The NRCS staff and partners understand that they must not use motorized and mechanical vehicles or equipment in Wilderness Areas and WSAs.

The NRCS will report findings periodically to the BLM before publication of the national final annual report. Fieldwork for the inventory is scheduled for early March 2021. A representative from the NRCS NRI will be contacting each Field Office in advance of field work for advice on logistics.

Any questions can be directed to Andrew Johnson, AIM Co-State Lead, at (530) 252-5358, email at acjohnson@blm.gov; Jack Hamby, State Rangeland and Weeds Coordinator at (916) 978-4633, email at jhamby@blm.gov; or James Barnes, Associate State Archaeologist at (916) 978-4676, email at jjbarnes@blm.gov.