Create Forest Ag projects and add planned activities.
Creating a Forest Ag project
All Forest Ag participants/projects should be entered as a Project under the appropriate DPA Plan Year (work plan) by foresters responsible for the Forest Ag program. Click ‘+ Create’, ‘New Project’.
Details
Project Name: Landowner Last Name, First Initial, Forest Ag (e.g., Smith J Forest Ag)
Deed Name: Name on property deed (if different from Landowner name)
Status: Status: related to the time of entry into GeoTracks before or after inspection
Planned: A Forest Ag project should always be in a planned state unless the landowner is no longer participating in the program. See Completed and Closed below.
Completed: Only if the Forest Ag participant is finished with the 10-year plan and they are choosing not to continue participation.
Closed: Only if landowner drops out of program before plan expires.
DO NOT use ‘In-Progress’
DPA Plan: Select appropriate Area DPA FY plan (e.g., Northeast Area FY 2024)
Staff Responsible: Forester responsible
Unit of Measure: select ‘Acres’
Dates: use Forest Management Plan (FMP) dates
Start: FMP start date
End: FMP end date
Comments: any other relevant information
Location
Input landowner location address via search function or drop a manual point (property polygons will be entered as a Plan Activity in GeoTracks Web or Mobile).
Property acres, forested acres, and legal description will be captured when entering Activities in GeoTracks Web or Mobile Applications.
Landowner
Add relevant landowner information by first searching the landowner database (ADD LANDOWNER button) or creating a new landowner (CREATE LANDOWNER button) record. Update landowner information as needed.
Note: a landowner record can be created beforehand using the “Landowner” tab in Planner.
Funding
Add ‘39 Fund Service Fees’ to reflect fee collected for annual enrollment. All Forest Ag projects should be tied to this funding.
Continue adding funding sources, if additional.
Add ‘22 Fund Management Projects’ if a stewardship plan is going to be developed by CSFS.
Add ‘Forest Stewardship’ if a stewardship plan is being developed by consulting forester.
Add ‘Forest Stewardship’ for Forest Management Treatments. Account number can be left blank, work will need to be done on the back-end to assign account number.
Click Save. This will bring you to a project overview page. Now it’s time to enter planned activities in Planner.
Creating Activities in Planner
From the Planner summary page, select ‘+ Create’, select ‘Activity’.
OR
Through the Project card. Click on ‘Projects’ from Planner toolbar to reach the project overview page. From project overview page click on the summary and create new activity by clicking ‘NEW’ then ‘New Activity’.
Summary
Activity Name: no current guidance on naming convention
e.g., Brown FA Inspection, Selby FA Management Plan, Sky Ranch FA Marking
DPA Plan: tie to desired DPA plan
Note: The DPA will autofill when adding the activity through the Project card
Project: tie to project you just created or desired project
Note: The Project will autofill when adding the activity through the Project card
Category: choose appropriate category
For inspections, choose ‘Landowner Assist’
For management plan development, choose ‘Plans’
For marking services, choose ‘Landowner Assist’
For management activities (annual work), choose ‘Forest Management Treatments’
Type: choose appropriate type
For inspections, choose ‘Forest Ag Inspection’
For stewardship plan development, choose ‘Forest Management’
For marking services, choose ‘Site Visit’
For management activities (annual work), choose appropriate type
Unit of Measure:
For inspections & site visits, choose ‘Each’
For forest management activities (annual work), choose ‘Acres’
Unique ID: enter NA
For plans, choose ‘Acres’ captured under plan
Comments: include any optional, relevant notes about the project
Status: enter Planned, In Progress, Completed
For inspections, Planned if inspection date is scheduled/known or Completed. Enter UOM = 1.
For stewardship plan development, select Planned if CSFS staff will write a stewardship plan in the DPA fiscal year or Completed for existing plans. Enter UOM = # acres covered by plan.
For marking services, enter UOM = # acres marked.
For management activities (annual work), enter UOM = # acres treated.
Location
The activity should be tied to the project point location. Make sure the box “Use Project Location” is checked.
Choose the field office where the activity will be located.
Funding
Add the funding source supporting the activity.
For inspections, add ‘39 Fund Service Fees’
For stewardship plans developed by CSFS, add ‘22 Fund Management Projects’
For stewardship plans developed by consulting foresters, add ‘Forest Stewardship’
For forest management activities, add ‘Forest Stewardship’. Account number can be left blank, work will need to be done on the back-end by program and administrative staff to assign account number.
Landowner
Review project landowner for accuracy
Opportunity to add a landowner for specific activities.
Personnel
Select personnel to assign to the activity (e.g. inspecting forester, plan preparer).
Save Activity
Note: It is necessary to edit the activity in GeoTracks Web or Mobile after it has been created Planner in order to record additional details and upload polygons for stewardship plans and forest management treatments. If the activity was created in Planner, then the Details tab can be found in the Activity card on the left side underneath the Summary tab. If the activity is created in GeoTracks, the activity card opens on the right side of the screen after saving. Then Details can be added by clicking the Details tab under Summary and then clicking Edit from there.
Continue adding planned activities for the project, as necessary.
Copy Activities in Planner
It's possible to copy previously entered activities. This feature may be useful for entering yearly and repetitive Forest Ag activities like inspections and treatments. Doing this will copy all info as it's currently entered under that activity like landowner information, funding sources and location. It will be necessary to change some information like DPA Year. There is not an option to batch copy activities.
Open the activity you'd like to copy in Planner.
Select the three vertical dots next to the New dropdown and Edit Activity pencil at the top right of the activity card.
Select 'Copy to New Activity'
This will copy all information from the previous activity to a new activity.
Change necessary information such as:
DPA Plan
Planned, In-progress, Completed dates
Assigned personnel/staff responsible
Save
A new activity will be created
Note: It is necessary to edit the activity in GeoTracks Web or Mobile after it has been created Planner in order to record additional details and upload polygons for stewardship plans and forest management treatments.
Batch "Linking” Forest Ag Projects to a new DPA Plan Year
Projects should be linked to new DPA Plan Year by Feb 1.
This tool allows users to “link” or tie continuing forest ag projects to a new plan year (e.g., Northwest Area FY 2024). This tool doesn’t “copy” data (which is also an option, but not suggested for Forest Ag), but effectively “tags” or associates your projects and activities with the new plan year so that you don’t need to duplicate or edit records to move them to a new year.
From the main DPA Plans tab in Planner, use the filters or scroll to your current area plan year.
Select the Summary button (eye) of your area’s DPA Plan (e.g., Southeast Area FY 2024).
Once you’re on the DPA Plan Details page, in the top right corner, select the Options button (three vertical dots).
Click Link data to another plan.
Under Destination DPA Plan, choose the DPA Plan you want to link your projects to (i.e., next year’s DPA Plan).
Under Current Plan, select the Forest Ag projects you want to link to the new DPA Plan year.
Press Apply. It will then load the next year’s DPA Plan summary page and you can view the Projects tab to make sure your projects were linked correctly.
GeoTracks Web Application
Filter, search, edit and create Activities.
If the activity was already created in Planner:
From the Planner Application Activities page, select the three vertical dots ‘More Options’ then select box with an arrow ‘Open in GeoTracks’
OR
Select the activities tab and search or hover for the desired activity. Select ‘open activity’ and the summary section will open on the right side of the screen.
Select the pencil icon to edit the activity.
Verify information is correct for the 1) Location, 2) Offices, 3) Summary tabs; those fields will have been brought over from Planner where the activity was first created.
Select ‘Details’ tab then the pencil icon to edit activity details.
Select ‘Personnel’ tab then the ‘Add Personnel’ icon to add personnel involved with the project.
Select ‘Mapping’ tab then the ‘+’ icon to add feature.
Polygons should be used for Forest Management Treatments and Stewardship Plans.
Points can be used for Landowner Assists.
Select ‘Landowner’ tab then the ‘Dispatch Landowners’ to assign landowner.
Select ‘Notes’ and type any optional messages for others working on the Project.
Select ‘Media’ then the ‘Upload’ icon to upload any additional files, photos, etc.
Select ‘History’ tab to review when the activity was last modified.
If the activity is being created in GeoTracks Web:
From the GeoTracks Web Application select ‘Activities’ on the toolbar (left side of screen) then click on the ‘+’ icon to ‘Add Activity’ and the Add New Activity summary will open on the right side of the screen.
Location: Select the location on the map or enter the activity location address in the search bar
Offices: Select field offices involved in activity.
Summary: See above – Planner -> Create Activities in Planner -> Summary
Select ‘Details’ tab then the pencil icon to edit activity details.
Select ‘Personnel’ tab then the ‘Add Personnel’ icon to add personnel involved with the project.
Select ‘Mapping’ tab then the ‘+’ icon to add feature. Polygons should be used for Forest Management Treatments and Stewardship Plans. Points can be used for Landowner Assists.
Select ‘Landowner’ tab then the ‘Dispatch Landowners’ to assign landowner.
Select ‘Notes’ and type any optional messages for others working on the Project.
Select ‘Media’ then the ‘Upload’ icon to upload any additional files, photos, etc.
Select ‘History’ tab to review when the activity was last modified.