Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations are required by the 2001 Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) to assist the field offices in the implementation of the Survey and Manage (S&M) mitigation in the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP).  Survey Protocols are to be prepared for all species requiring pre-disturbance surveys.  Management Recommendations are to be prepared for all species requiring management of known sites or high-priority sites.  The S&Gs state that these documents are to be developed by taxa experts and land managers and are subject to Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) review, but provide no specific guidance for their preparation or review.  Managers expressed their desire to be involved in the development of these documents during the Line Officers’ meetings held in Portland and Medford in April of this year.  The purpose of this memorandum is to provide more detailed guidance for the preparation and review of new and revised Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations.

Preparation and review of Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations will involve a four-step process.  A summary of the process is provided below and detailed in Enclosure 1.

1.  Preparation and Review of Initial Draft.  Initial draft Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations will be prepared by the taxa teams.  The Mitigation Coordinator will coordinate the development of initial draft Survey Protocols, and the Conservation Coordinator will coordinate the development of initial draft Management Recommendations.  The Mitigation Coordinator, Conservation Coordinator, Strategic Survey Coordinator, Interagency Species Management System Project Manager, Agency Representatives, Field Managers, and Technical Specialists will complete formal review of initial drafts.

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2. Preparation of Second Draft and Validation Review.  Taxa teams will prepare second drafts of Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations in response to the comments received during the initial review.  The Mitigation Coordinator and Conservation Coordinator will oversee the development of the second drafts to ensure that all of the comments received during the initial review are adequately incorporated or addressed.

3.  Administrative Review, Preparation of Final Draft, and Implementation.   The Intermediate Management Group (IMG) and the REO will complete review of the second drafts.  Comments will be sent to the Mitigation or Conservation Coordinator, as appropriate, and the taxa teams will prepare the final drafts taking into account all review comments.  As with the validation review, the Mitigation Coordinator and Conservation Coordinator will oversee the development of the final drafts to ensure that all of the comments received during the administrative review are adequately incorporated or addressed.

 4.  Peer Review and Preparation of Final Documents.  The Mitigation and Conservation Coordinators will select species experts, who are not responsible for the implementation of the S&M mitigation, to review final draft Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations.  These reviews will be completed, while the final drafts are being implemented and field-tested for a period of one year, by the Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Final Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations will be developed taking into account peer review comments and any comments received from field unit managers and technical specialists of the FS and BLM.

Survey Protocols and Management Recommendations are dynamic documents and will continue to be updated and revised, after the final versions are produced, as new information is gathered on individual Survey and Manage species.  Line Officers and Technical Specialists are encouraged to coordinate with the Survey and Manage Program Manager, the Mitigation Coordinator, and Conservation Coordinator to ensure that revisions are completed as necessary and in a timely manner.

Questions regarding implementation of this procedure should be directed to Russ Holmes, Mitigation Coordinator (Russel_Holmes@blm.gov, 503-808-6536), or Mark Huff, Conservation Coordinator (mhuff@fs.fed.us, 503-808-2376).

1 Enclosure (as stated) 2pp

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