National Rangeland Inventory, Monitoring and Evaluation Report

IM2023-058
Instruction Memorandum
In Reply Refer To:

4100, 4180, 4400, 6500, 6600, 7100, 7200 (HQ-200) P

To:State Directors
From:Assistant Director, Resources and Planning
Subject:National Rangeland Inventory, Monitoring and Evaluation Report
Program Area:Rangeland Management; Standards and Guidelines for Grazing Administration; Rangeland Inventory, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RIME); Wildlife Management; Fish, Wildlife, and Special Status Plant Resources Inventory and Monitoring; Soil Resource Management;
Purpose:

This Instruction Memorandum (IM) requests data for allotment monitoring, land health evaluations, determinations and related decisions completed during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The objective to modernize and update the reporting capabilities of land health datasets was initiated in FY23.  Part of that overall effort will require an effort to digitize and map land health data legacy data. To assist with the records gathering phase of this effort, additional reporting requirements are included in this year’s RIME report data call, as outlined below.

Administrative or Mission Related:

Mission.

Policy/Action:

The Rangeland Inventory, Monitoring and Evaluation (RIME) report is completed annually according to policy contained in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Manual 4180 (Release 4-110, dated January 16, 2009), BLM Handbook H-4400-1 (Release 4-98 and 4-100), and BLM Handbook H-4180-1 (Release 4-107, dated January 19, 2001).

The RIME report contains eleven tables. Tables 2 and 4 are populated using data from the Rangeland Administration System (RAS). The remaining 9 tables listed below are populated by each state and field office using field office records:

  • Table 1 – Cumulative monitored Rangeland Trend
  • Table 2 – Allotment resource management plan categorization
  • Table 3 – Monitoring of grazing allotments
  • Table 4 – Allotment Management Plans (AMP) or Other Applicable Activity Plans Intended to Serve as the Functional Equivalent of Allotment Management Plans
  • Table 5 – Fundamentals of Land Health Cumulative 2012-current Fiscal Year
    • Table 5 A – Watershed Function
    • Table 5 B - Riparian Watershed Function
    • Table 5 C - Ecological Processes
    • Table 5 D – Water Quality
    • Table 5 E – Habitat Quality for Threatened and Endangered and Special-Status Species

Lastly, a separate spreadsheet, Current Year and Cumulative Rangeland Health Accomplishments, tracks land health evaluation status by grazing allotment, and is also updated through this annual data call.

State and field offices are required to complete Tables 1, 3, and 5 A – 5 E as shown in Attachment 1, for inclusion in the final FY 2022 RIME report. Tables 5A – 5E are populated by adding annual accomplishments to the allotment and acreage values for the land health reporting categories in each table.

In addition, for allotments in which land health evaluations and/or determinations were completed during FY 2022 evaluation and determination dates, acres assessed, and assessment outcomes will be reported by updating the Cumulative Rangeland Health Accomplishments spreadsheet, as shown in Attachment 2. These data will be used to populate the current year and cumulative accomplishments tables of the RIME report. States may also use this opportunity to review, update and correct allotment, land health evaluation and determination data for allotments that were evaluated prior to FY 2023.  

Lastly, to facilitate the land health digitization process, land health evaluation reports and land health determination reports completed during FY 2023 are requested from each office. There should be a corresponding report for each evaluation or determination listed in the Attachment 2 table with a completion date between October 1,2022 and September 30, 2023. These reports should be prepared as individual PDF files following the file naming format: [Document type]_[SHORTNAME]_[Date].

The BLM Operations Center will prepare a OneDrive folder and spreadsheet templates for each state and share them with the state rangeland management specialists. All final report files and completed state RIME report tables should be saved to the provided OneDrive folder. Nika Lepak, rangeland ecologist at the BLM Operations Center will coordinate collection of the state tables and reports and should be notified at dlepak@blm.gov when each state’s data are ready for submission.

Timeframe:

This Instruction Memorandum (IM)IM is effective immediately. The due date for state submissions is December 15, 2023.

Budget Impact:

There is no increased workload anticipated with implementing the reporting of the Fundamentals of Land Health. The workload is comparable with reports compiled since FY 2013.

Background:

The rangeland management program’s allotment monitoring, land health standards evaluations, conditions and trends are summarized in the RIME report, supporting the Secretary of Interior’s obligation to inventory public lands and their resources and conditions, as required by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and each state director’s responsibility to report the status of land health standards implementation in their state as required by BLM Manual 4180.

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected:

The BLM Handbook H-4400-1 (Release 4-98 and 4-100), the BLM Manual Handbook H-4180-1 (Release 1-107, dated January 19, 2001), and Instruction Memorandum WO 2012-124.

Contact:

If you have questions regarding this request for information, contact Nika Lepak, Rangeland Ecologist, Division of Resource Services, National Operations Center, at dlepak@blm.gov; or Justin Shirley, Rangeland Management Specialist, Division of Forest, Range, and Vegetation Resources (HQ-220), at jshirley@blm.gov.

 

Signed by:                                         Authenticated by:

David JenkinsBrian St. George         Robert M. Williams

Acting, Assistant Director                  Division of Regulatory Affairs and Directives,(HQ-630)

Resources and Planning

 

2 Attachments

  1. RIME Report Tables 1, 3 and 5 example and instructions (7 pp)
  1. Rangeland Health Detail example and instructions (1 p)
Coordination:

Preparation of this IM was coordinated with State Rangeland Management Program Leads and State Inventory and Monitoring Leads.