Required Timelines and Naming Conventions for Entering Data into the Wild Horse and Burro Program System and Recording/Reporting Requirements for Other Data

IM 2014-133
Instruction Memorandum

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov

August 26, 2014

In Reply Refer To:
4700 (WO260) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 08/29/2014

Instruction Memorandum No. 2014-133

Expires:  09/30/2015

To:             All Field Office Officials (except Alaska)

                  Attn:  State Wild Horse and Burro Program Leads

From:         Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning

Subject:     Required Timelines and Naming Conventions for Entering Data into the Wild Horse and Burro Program System and Recording/Reporting Requirements for Other Data

Program Area:  Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Purpose:  This instruction memorandum (IM) establishes timelines and naming conventions for inputting data into the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wild Horse and Burro Program System (WHBPS). These procedures will facilitate uploading units of accomplishment into the Performance Management Data System (PMDS) and create a uniform set of measures by program element for the Wild Horse and Burro Program.  This IM also establishes a separate tracking system for recording stillbirths and foals that are dead at birth, which will not be tracked in the WHBPS.

Policy/Action:  All field, district, and state offices must enter data into the WHBPS according to the timelines and naming conventions in Attachment 1.  Timely and accurate entry of data is required for various planning exercises, internal/external inquiries, formulation and execution of budget and workflow measures, tracking of accomplishments, and official reporting.

Information for the following program elements began to be uploaded into the Performance Management Data System (PMDS) in fiscal year 2013:

  • HI – Short-term holding feed days
  • HH – Long-term holding feed days
  • NK – Compliance

The remaining program elements will be uploaded in PMDS in subsequent years:

  • JJ – Remove Wild Horses and Burros
  • KF – Population growth suppression applications
  • HG – Adoptions
  • MC – Population Survey

All yearly statistics will be reported from the WHBPS on September 30 at the end of the fiscal year.

Data pertaining to stillborn fetuses and foals that are dead at birth will not be tracked in the WHBPS and must be reported on the spreadsheet in Attachment 2 and submitted to the Wild Horse and Burro Off-Range and Corral Operations Branch Office in Oklahoma by the second Wednesday of each month for compilation.

Timeframe:  This policy is effective immediately.

Budget Impact:  The only new data compilation and reporting requirement since the WHBPS was deployed in 2009 is the requirement to record and report stillborn fetuses and foals that are dead at birth.  This additional requirement will require a total of approximately one additional work month per year for all offices combined.  

Background: The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 gave the Department of the Interior’s BLM and the Department of Agriculture’s USFS the authority to manage, protect, and control wild horses and burros on the nation’s public rangelands to ensure healthy herds and healthy rangelands. The WHBPS was launched in December 2009 and incorporated all information recorded in the Wild Horse and Burro Information System (WHBIS), which had been in use since 1984.  The WHBPS is a Web-based application with new data fields and standards capable of supporting all business processes of the wild horse and burro program.  Information is collected on herd areas, herd management areas, and wild horse and burro territories; herds; animal management; individual animals; animal transport; adoptions; sales; compliance; titling; and organizational units administering the program  The system is only accessed by authorized, trained users via the BLM’s secure Intranet. 

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected:  None.

Coordination: This instruction memorandum was coordinated with the BLM state program leads, WH&B Facility Managers, U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wild Horse and Burro On-Range and Corral Operations Branch Office in Reno, NV and BLM National Operations Center in Denver, CO.

Contact: For questions or additional information please contact Sherry Hirst, WHBPS Business User Representative at (303) 236-4089.

 

 

Signed by:                                                       Authenticated by:

Edwin L. Roberson                                         Robert M. Williams

Assistant Director                                           Division of IRM Governance,WO-860

Resources and Planning

 

 

2 Attachments:

1 – Timelines and Naming Conventions for Entering Data in the WHBPS by Module (1 p)

2 – Tracking Log for Stillborn Fetuses and Foals That Are Dead at Birth (1 p)

Fiscal Year

2014