NRCS NRI MOU Announcement

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of the Interior (DOI) are pleased to announce a data exchange partnership between the LANDFIRE (LF) Program and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This partnership will use NRCS National Resources Inventory (NRI) data set within the LF geo-spatial framework to create products to support and inform planning and decisions for vegetation and wildland fire management for all lands, regardless of ownership.

In February 2015, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the NRCS formalized this data sharing agreement in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designating a framework for a collaborative effort for sharing data across the USDA and the DOI. The MOU provides for the NRCS to share data collected and developed by their NRI program with the LF Program. The LF Program will then use the data in the creation of its geospatial data (over 30 layers - e.g., vegetation, disturbance, fuel/fire, biophysical, ecological models, etc.) as well as public databases which cover the United States, and insular areas. Although the agreement is principally between NRCS and USFS, the MOU supports and provides for the broader interdepartmental effort.

The LF Program will protect the confidentiality of the NRI sample points, while using the NRI data to create its products. This process builds on past efforts to successfully include confidential Forest Inventory and Analysis program data into the LF Program under a similar agreement.