Planner Application Business Practices for GNA Projects
Responsibility: Field Offices are responsible for entering Projects and Activities in the Planner.
Creating a GNA Project in the Planner Application
View corresponding video workflow here.
Create a Project in the Planner by clicking ‘+Create’, ‘New Project’ in the upper right corner
Details
Project Name: Project Name (ex. Deer Creek) + GNA + Project Type (ex. Timber Sale, Stewardship) - full example: Deer Creek GNA Stewardship
Deed Name: Leave blank
Status: Status of project to the time of entry into Planner Application – this will almost always be “Planned” if being entered into the Planner Application:
Planned: All newly funded GNA 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: Forester responsible for the overall project or activity (This needs to be added by the forester)
Unit of Measure: select ‘Acres’
Dates: use dates from Project Award Notification or Grant Award (this could be a SPA begin date)
Start: award start date
End: award end date
Comments: SPA or Cooperative agreement number (e.g. 23-GN-11021500-056)
Location
Input project location address via search function or drop a manual point in the general location where the project will occur. Project polygons will be entered as a Plan Activity in GeoTracks Web or Mobile.
No need to add a “Priority Analysis” shapefile.
Landowner
For Multiple Ownerships/Cross-Boundary work, the multiple ownerships will be addressed through separate activities. These do NOT need to be separate projects, just separate activities within the same project. For Landowner in the project section, select the MAJORITY landowner.
For example, if a project’s acreage is 60% USFS, 20% BLM, 20% Private, have the landowner for the project section be USFS. Each individual ownership will be addressed through activities.
For Single Ownership, Landowner can be selected from an existing list that has previously been entered or added in the Planner.
For federal ownership use the following:
First Name: enter landowner information to National Forest or BLM Area (i.e. Pike-San Isabel National Forests)
Last Name: leave blank.
Address: leave blank
Phone: leave blank
Email: leave blank
Funding
For any GNA Project, regardless of whether there is a mix of funding, please select Funding Source: Good Neighbor Authority
Account Number:
If multiple funding sources are used, i.e. Grant Funds or State Funds, add those funding sources as well. Contact Program Specialist for account information.
Click Save. This will bring you to the project overview page. Now it is time to enter planned activities in Planner.
Creating a Planned GNA Activity in the Planner Application
View corresponding video workflow here.
When to create an activity in the Planner vs. In GeoTracks? Create an activity in the planner if the activity is planned. Once it moves from “planned” to “in-progress,” use GeoTracks to add spatial data and continue the rest of the activity in GeoTracks.
Create an Activity in the Planner by:
Clicking ‘+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: “Project Name” + “GNA” + “Specific Activity” + “other details that make this activity unique (i.e. treatment type or landownership)”
ex. Deer Creek GNA Timber Sale or Deer Creek GNA Coordination Meeting
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 collaborative meetings, choose “Collaboratives”
You do NOT need to document every time you do a site visit, sale administration, etc. in GeoTracks as an Activity. These have occasionally been recorded as a “Landowner Assist” – this is not necessary.
Type: choose appropriate type
Select ‘Fuels Reduction’ for most non-commercial fuels projects (ex. Mastication, Hand Crew Thinning/Piling)
Select ’Forest Stand Improvement’ for most timber sales.
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’
For Collaboratives, choose ‘Number of Attendees’ or ‘Hours,’ whichever is more relevant
Unique ID:
Leave blank
Comments: SPA or Cooperative agreement number (e.g. 23-GN-11021500-056)
Status:
Enter Planned, In Progress, Completed. If an activity is being entered in the planner, it should be a planned activity. The date for a planned activity should be the planned start date of the activity.
For management activities, enter UOM = # acres treated (acres planned for planned project, acres under contract for in progress project, acres completed for completed projects)
Location
The activity should be tied to the project point location. Make sure the box “Use Project Location” is checked.
Funding
Add appropriate funding source(s) for the unit/activity. This will typically be Good Neighbor Authority, with some additional sources if applicable.
Select the account number. This can also be found on the funding tab at the Project.
Landowner
For Single Ownership, Landowner can be selected from an existing list that has previously been entered or added in the Planner.
For federal ownership use the following:
First Name: enter either USFS or BLM
Last Name: leave blank.
Address: Use the address of the National Forest Supervisor’s Office or the BLM Field Office
Phone: leave blank
Email: leave blank
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).
Save Activity
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.
Continue adding planned activities for the project, as necessary.
"Linking” GNA 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 GNA 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.
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 GNA 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.