Planner Application Business Practices for Grant Funded Projects

Create grant-funded projects and add planned activities.

Creating a grant-funded project

View corresponding workflow video here.

All CSFS grant-funded projects should be entered as a Project under the appropriate DPA Plan Year (work plan).

• For projects the CSFS is administering (non-pass-through grants) the Field Office staff (responsible forester) must add the grant project to the DPA when they receive the Project Award Notification.

• For non-CSFS administered projects (pass-through grants) the Program Specialist/Manager will add the project to the appropriate DPA. For example, all FRWRM funded projects will be entered into the Planner by the Program Specialist. Refer to the GeoTracks Activity Business Practices for additional details.

  • Projects that will be funded/matched by more than 1 grant program or funding source should only be entered into GeoTracks as 1 project that lists all relevant funding sources. Program Specialists should coordinate with all other relevant Program Specialist prior to adding a project that will be funded by multiple funding sources to avoid duplicate project entries.

    • For example, an SFA WUI grant is being matched by a FRWRM grant. The SFA WUI Program Specialist and FRWRM Program Specialist should determine who will be responsible for entering the project. To easily be able to identify projects with multiple funding sources, Program Specialists should record all relevant funding sources in the “Other funds” section of the Award Notification. 

• For grant funded projects that also fall into the Plan category, such as CWPPs, follow the guidance for entering these projects in the respective Plan guidance document and add grant funded efforts as activities to the project. These projects do not require an activity to be entered at each reimbursement request, like most grant funded projects, unless additional efforts outside of Plan activities were conducted. 

  • For example, an ILG Grant awarded for the creation or update of a CWPP should not be entered as a grant funded project using the grant funded project guidance (naming convention, etc.) but rather entered as a CWPP using the CWPP Project and Activity Guidance (naming convention, etc.), with ILG as an additional funding source.   

Click ‘+ Create’, ‘New Project’.

1. Details

   • Project Name: Use name that is on the application (e.g., Catamount Municipal Water Wildfire Risk Mitigation Project)

   • Deed Name: Leave blank

   • Status: related to the time of entry into the Planner application

     • Planned: All newly funded grant projects should always be in a planned state unless the project was entered when already in progress.

     • Use ‘Completed’ or ‘In-Progress’ only for projects you are retroactively adding to the Planner.

   • DPA Plan: Select appropriate Area DPA FY plan (e.g., Northeast Area FY 2024)

   • Staff Responsible: Add supervisory forester/primary contact listed in Award Letter.

     • Note: Once you begin typing the first three letters of the first name, names will automatically populate. 

     • This can be updated later by the staff responsible to reflect who is responsible for the overall project or activity as necessary.

   • Unit of Measure: Select appropriate unit of measure. For example, fuels reduction projects should use ‘Acres.’

   • Dates: use dates from Project Award Notification or Grant Award

     • Start: award start date

     • End: award end date (deadline)

   • Comments: any other relevant information

2. Location

   • Input project location address via search function or drop a manual point where the project will occur. For projects across multiple properties use the community address or address listed on the grant application (project polygons will be entered as a Plan Activity in GeoTracks Web or Mobile). 

3. Landowner

   • Add relevant landowner information by searching the landowner database (ADD LANDOWNER button) or creating a new landowner (CREATE LANDOWNER button) record. Update landowner information with the grant awardee information as needed.

     • Landowner contact should be the grant recipient listed on the grant award. You do NOT need to add all landowner contacts for grant-funded projects that occur across multiple private landowners.

     • To avoid duplicate entries, be sure to search the landowner database prior to creating a new landowner and avoid using abbreviations.

       • Example: “Durango Fire Protection District” should not be entered as “Durango FPD.”

     • Note: a landowner record can be created beforehand using the “Landowner” tab in Planner.

4. Funding

   • Add all appropriate grant funding sources. The relevant grant funding will be on the Project Award Notification. Examples: FRWRM, CAFA, LSR, etc.

     • Select the account number (found on Project Award Notification) or provided by the Program Specialist.

   • Continue adding funding sources, if additional.

Click Save. This will bring you to the project overview page. Now it is time to enter planned activities in Planner.

Creating Activities in Planner

View corresponding workflow video here.

Note: Activities are most commonly entered via GeoTracks Web but can also be entered via Planner in multiple ways.  

From the Planner summary page, select ‘+ Create’, select ‘Activity’. Note: If entering an activity via this route, you will need to tie the activity to the correct Project and DPA Plan.

OR

Through the Project card (preferred). 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’.

1. Summary

   • Activity Name: no current guidance on naming convention

     • e.g., Cherokee Park SWA Unit, Mountain Community Fuelbreak

   • 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 management activities, choose ‘Forest Management Treatments’

     • For capacity building activities, reach out to appropriate Program Specialist for guidance on temporarily tracking these activities. A ‘Capacity Building’ activity will be added to GeoTracks soon.

       • For FRWRM and ILG Grants, capacity activities should be entered via the temporary GeoTracks Reporting for Capacity Projects PDF, located in SharePoint.

   • Type: choose appropriate type

     • Select ‘Fuels Reduction’ for most grant funded projects

     • Select ‘Defensible Space’ where only a defensible space is being created

     • Select ‘Forest Restoration’ for projects where the only objective is forest restoration (definition: promote forest health through scientifically based forestry practices that restore ecosystem functions, structures and species composition)

   • Unit of Measure:

     • For forest management activities , choose ‘Acres’

       • Unique ID: enter NA

   • Comments: include any optional, relevant notes about the project

   • Status: Select Planned, In Progress, or Completed

     • For management activities, enter UOM = # acres treated

     • Enter the date the activity treatment was completed

2. 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.

3. Funding

   • Add appropriate grant source for the unit/activity. The relevant grant funding will be on the Project Award Notification. Examples: FRWRM, CAFA, LSR, etc.

     • Select the account number. Account number can be found on the funding tab at the Project level, on the Project Award Notification, or provided by the appropriate Program Specialist.

     • Other funding sources are often used as match and should be added as additional funding sources where applicable.

4. Landowner

   • Add appropriate landowner(s) for specific activities. If the activity landowner is the same as the project landowner, select the checkbox for the correct landowner under the ‘Project Landowners’ heading and click the green ‘Add Project Landowner(s) To Activity’ button.

   • If the landowner is different than the project landowner, or additional landowners need to be added, click the green “Add Landowner” button to search for additional landowners. 

     • Note: Landowner contact should be the grant recipient listed on the grant award. You do NOT need to add all landowner contacts for grant-funded projects that occur across multiple private landowners.

5. Personnel

   • Assign Personnel- list all personnel working on the activity

   • Assign Staff Responsible - select staff responsible for the activity (e.g., point person on the activity who should be contacted with questions) 

     

6. Save Activity

7. Note: It is necessary to edit the activity in GeoTracks Web or Mobile after it has been created in Planner in order to record additional details and upload polygons for 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.

8. Continue adding planned activities for the project, as necessary.

"Linking” Grant Funded 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 grant-funded projects to a new plan year (e.g., Northwest Area FY 2024). This tool doesn’t “copy” data (which is also an option), 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.

1. From the main DPA Plans tab in Planner, use the filters or scroll to your current area plan year.

2. Select the Summary button (eye) of your area’s DPA Plan (e.g., Southeast Area FY 2024).

3. Once you’re on the DPA Plan Details page, in the top right corner, select the Options button (three vertical dots).

4. Click Link data to another plan.

5. Under Destination DPA Plan, choose the DPA Plan you want to link your projects to (i.e., next year’s DPA Plan).

6. Under Current Plan, select the grant-funded projects you want to link to the new DPA Plan year.

7. 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.