Dirty boots mean better communication

Story and photos by Alden Shallcross, Hydrologist, Montana/Dakotas State Office

One of the top priorities for state program leads in the Branch of Biological Resources & Science (BBRS) is maintaining a current understanding of the challenges confronting field

offices and providing assistance. This often involves providing guidance on the proper use of assessment and monitoring protocols, training for new employees, recommendations for adaptive management (i.e., active and passive restoration alternatives), and the development of strategies for increasing the effectiveness of their programs (i.e., use of various authorities, streamlined NEPA, cooperative agreements and contracts, leveraging partners, etc.).

Since each office is unique and resource challenges, subject matter expertise, and staff capacity vary, program leads need to get their boots dirty and spend time in the field with our front line specialists/managers. This ensures multidirectional communication so that state leads (a) stay apprised of field offices’ unique issues; (b) are able to develop/advocate for state/national policies that will meet the needs of our field offices, and (c) better allocate resources, training, and assistance.

In accordance with this strategy, an interdisciplinary team of state program leads from the BBRS (Alden Shallcross, Aquatic Habitat Management; Ken Reed, Forestry; and Chris Boone, Wildlife and T&E) joined the Dillon Field Office’s interdisciplinary team (IDT) July 15-18 to assess watersheds in the Madison Range.

The Dillon Field Office (DFO) manages surface estate by watersheds and assesses them on a rotating basis, in accordance with its RMP. During this process, the office evaluates conditions relative to the Standards for Rangeland Health, designs projects to achieve resource objectives, and prioritizes management changes for implementation during subsequent years. As a result, the field assessments are excellent opportunities for hands on coordination among the state leads and field office specialists/managers.

During the four field days, state leads and Dillon FO’s IDT conducted riparian assessments on 10+ stream reaches, a wetland, and a lentic/lotic reach; evaluated conditions for fish and wildlife; and identified forestry treatments to improve watershed health while supporting the local economy.

Like other field tours throughout Montana/Dakotas, the visit was extremely valuable to both the state and field office. In fact, we believe that such interactions are critical to the state office’s ability to more efficiently and effectively support our front-line resource managers. However, this operational model would not be possible without strong working relationships between the state and field office personnel. Program leads strive to be “value added” when in the field and continue to appreciate the many invitations from field offices to participate on their field assessments, monitoring efforts, and restoration projects.