Interagency Species Management System (ISMS)

The Interagency Species Management System (ISMS) is designed to support with information, the decision-making activities regarding the plant and wildlife species within the Survey and Manage program that occur within the area covered by Northwest Forest Plan (NFP). The goal of ISMS is to enable field staff of the BLM, the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service to readily share information on locations and habitats of species associated with the Survey and Manage program, and to carry out the resource management tasks associated with the NFP. ISMS is also a tool for conducting analysis of species for the Survey and Manage Annual Species Review and other regional, provincial and local assessments.

ISMS is used for all NFP Survey and Manage- related species data storage in the BLM and the FS, including the PNW and PSW. Survey and Manage species come from nine taxa groups: bryophytes (mosses & liverworts), lichens, fungi, mollusks (snails & slugs), amphibians (salamanders), vascular plants, birds, mammals and four groups of arthropods (insects and related species).

The US Fish and Wildlife Service also uses ISMS for some of their participation in the Survey and Manage program, and the National Park Service is interesting in query capabilities. Information stored in the database will support an adaptive management process for known sites of these species, and for development or refinement of management recommendations and survey protocols.

ISMS is an Oracle database with an integrated ArcView component for spatial data entry and management. All information contained in ISMS is categorized as public information. The FS Region 6 is the agency responsible for maintaining the ISMS and will respond to requests from the public for information that can be provided by the ISMS database, or about the database itself.

With the signing of the ROD in January 2001 for the FSEIS, For Amendment to the Survey and Manage, Protection Buffer, and other Mitigation Measures, published in November 2000, the number of species covered in the future will be those designated in the Record of Decision. The ROD established and applied an adaptive management process that allows the agencies to effectively manage the species and their habitats, including adding and removing species from the listed Survey and Manage categories. ISMS will facilitate this process. Data on species removed from the Survey and Manage program which was collected prior to the signing of the ROD on January 12, 2001, will remain in the database to maintain the history of the species inventories and facilitate further analysis. Additional data collected subsequent to removal from the S and M program will be placed in other databases according to agency policies. The primary long-term purpose of the ISMS application is to serve the Survey and Manage program and processes necessary to implement the Northwest Forest Plan.

Information about ISMS can be obtained by calling or writing Janis VanWyhe, ISMS Project Manager, at (503) 808-6296, jvanwyhe@or.blm.gov, or Oregon State Office, Bureau of Land Management, PO Box 2965, Portland, OR 97208.