Citizen Science and the Coalition

The Boise Forest Coalition (BFC) initiated a collaborative approach to project development with the Boise National Forest in 2010.  Projects are in various stages, from National Forest Management Act data collection, to sale preparation, and implementation with ongoing logging operations. Recently, the partnership identified the issue that monitoring is often not completed following project implementation due to funding constraints and a lack of resources.

To address these project constraints, the BFC recommended adopting   a Citizen Science strategy for multi-party monitoring.  The objectives include monitoring both the implementation of proposed actions  and the effectiveness of the actions to achieve desired outcomes.  We anticipate that the  monitoring program will  help inform future decisions, evaluate the need and effectiveness of project design features, and improve treatment prescriptions that will refine best management practices.

Our volunteers have worked, and will continue to work, with the Forest Service to design monitoring protocols that address relevant scientific questions.  Implementation of the monitoring program will fully engage volunteers to conduct field data-collection  and convert the data to digital databases for analysis.

The monitoring approach enables volunteers to acquire hands-on experience with  field data collection protocols.  This portion of the BFC website hosts pertinent data and status reports, beginning with the High Valley Project.

If you are interested in Citizen Science on the Boise National Forest, contract the Project Leads for more information:

• Partner Project Lead:  Art Beal
• Forest Service Project Lead:  John Riling