Good Neighbor Authority Project and Activity Guidance for GeoTracks Applications

This document provides step-by-step agency-wide guidance for reporting Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) projects and activities in the GeoTracks Web Application. Details on batch linking projects to new DPA plan years are included. 

General Guidance

View corresponding Workflow video here.

When to Update GeoTracks Activities/Projects 

1. When funding is secured for a project, enter it as a planned project and planned activity.  

2. When a contract is awarded for a project, move it from planned to in-progress. At this point, shapefiles are uploaded for each activity, and cruised volume is entered for each activity if applicable.  

3. When a contract is operating, volume removed and revenue generated will be tracked outside of GeoTracks by Foresters and Admins.  

4. When a contract is closed, move the project and activities from in-progress to complete. At this point, enter actual volume removed and revenue generated, if applicable, for each activity into GeoTracks.  

Activities vs. Projects 

1. Projects: In GeoTracks, the Project will be the overall GNA Timber Sale or Service/Stewardship Contract. Supplemental Project Agreement (SPAs) are not Projects – generally multiple projects will be contained within a single SPA. Think of it as – if we have a contract for a GNA project, that is generally a stand-alone project in GeoTracks. Each GNA project needs to have a Forest Management Activity associated with it.   

2. Activities: In GeoTracks, the Activity will be the actions taking place in each project (Timber Sale or Service/Stewardship Contract), broken up by Landownership and Treatment Type.  

   • For example, if a timber sale covers State, Private, and Federal land, you will need 3 activities, one activity for each ownership type, within that project.  

   • Each unit does not necessarily need to be its own activity. If the Treatment Type is significantly different between units, these should be separate activities.  

     • For example, if half the units are clear-cut lodgepole with removal of merchantable material, and half the units are hand thinning and piling, those should be separate activities.  

     • In some cases, the project will only have one activity (i.e. a Timber Sale with 3 units, all units on federal land, all units the same treatment type).   

   • Not every unit needs to be a separate shapefile upload. One shapefile per activity is sufficient.  

Cross Boundary Projects 

1. For Activities with multiple ownerships: 

   • These cross-boundary efforts will be included in a single project however the individual Activities are to be entered by ownership. Ex: A single treatment polygon spans both USFS and private lands. This treatment will need to be recorded as two separate activities under this single project so we can align treated acres and funding sources to their respective ownerships.  

2. For projects solely on USFS or BLM lands: 

   • Enter as a single GNA project and activities are tied to this project and funding source 

3. For projects on private/state lands adjacent to completed or planned federal GNA projects but not completed simultaneously:  

   • These projects/activities do not need to be tied to an existing or planned GNA project. Following current guidance for other private/state lands treatments. 

Volume and Revenue Tracking for Timber Sales and Stewardship 

1. Unfortunately, GeoTracks is not set up for tracking volume down to the load ticket, or invoicing purchasers. We do need to track volume removed from all our GNA projects, whether timber sales or stewardship, but this will be done outside of GeoTracks.  

2. When a project that has volume removal is put out to contract, enter the planned (cruised) volume removed in the “Details” section. While the contract is active, track volume removed in the standard volume tracking templates on SharePoint. When a project is completed, update the GeoTracks “Details” section with the final removed volumes.  

3. Regardless of how a product is sold (ton, acre, cord, etc), it must be entered into GeoTracks in CCF. Use the conversion factor feature in the Volume Tracking spreadsheets on SharePoint to convert to CCF. Generally, products for GNA will be Sawlogs and POL, both listed in CCF. Enter Quantity (total CCF sold when the project moves to in-progress, then total actual CCF removed when the project moves to complete), Species (majority species), UOM (CCF), and Value (total value of sawlogs sold, not value per CCF. For example, if you sold 90 CCF at $20/CCF, you would enter $1,800 as the value for that row, not $20). 

Linking to the Agreement  

1. Each GNA project that we do, either with USFS or BLM, is a part of a larger agreement between CSFS and the federal government. We need that Agreement number to be put into GeoTracks in the Comment section of the Summary. If a project is authorized/funded by multiple agreements, put all agreement numbers in the comment. 

2. For USFS, put the SPA number (e.g. “23-GN-11021500-056") for the SPA that authorizes the project in the Comment section of the Summary. 

3. For the BLM, put the Cooperative Agreement number (e.g. “L19AC00327”) for the agreement that authorizes the project in the Comment section of the Summary.