Engineering Field Notes V.35
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United States Volume 35 Department of Issue 1 2003 Agriculture Engineering Forest Service Field Notes Engineering Staff Engineering Technical Washington, DC Information System A Mandate To Work Effectively and Efficiently 1 EFN Forum 3 Landslide Computer Modeling Potential 4 Rapid Mapping of Active Wildland Fires: 12 Integrating Satellite Remote Sensing, GIS, and Internet Technologies Technology and Development Innovations 19 Now on the Internet Fish Passage in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, 21 California, and a State Near You! 2002 USDA Forest Service 24 Engineer of the Year Awards 2002 USDA Forest Service 41 Engineering Special Recognition Award Engineering Bulletin Board 43 2002 Engineering Field Notes 45 Article Award Nominations Engineering Field Notes Guidelines for Authors Proposed articles should be double-spaced text in 10- or 12-point Arial or Helvetica type fonts, left margin justified. To ensure that design layout conforms to Forest Service publication standards, submit graphic elements, such as tables, charts, and photographs as separate files. Submit manuscripts as Microsoft Word documents (either Macintosh or Windows format) on 3.5-inch floppies, Iomega products (ZIP 100), or recordable CDs, or send by e-mail. When soliciting photographs for your document, encourage photographers to capture the sharpest image possible by moving close to the primary subject, so that it fills at least three quarters of the frame. Request vertical and horizontal photos in at least three different exposures for each subject to allow maximum design flexibility. (For cameras that lack adjustable f-stop lens settings, use the +/- exposure adjustment for different exposures.) Photographers must use digital cameras that provide print or publication quality images. Provide 1-megabyte .jpeg files (for electronic use) or 5-megabyte .tif files for print publications. Designers can convert .jpegs into .tif files for professional page layout. Use of Kodak photo CDs, Agency-provided desktop scans, or images from online sources are not recommended. Such images often have insufficient clarity (required minimum resolution is 300 dpi or dots per inch.) Internet photos generally only have a resolution of 72 dpi. Provide sources for all photographs and have written permission for use of non-USDA Forest Service material. (Standard permission forms are available.) Photographs must be cleared through the USDA Forest Service – Office of Communication and USDA Photo Division. Follow USDA guidelines for current information on including photographs in your document. See www.usda.gov/agency/oc/design/ for current information. 1. Slides (originals or first generation duplicates, preferably multiple frames of each subject) housed in a protected box or archival slide sheet. 2. Transparencies (4 by 5 inches or larger, preferably multiple frames of each subject) should be housed in archival slide sheets. 3. Prints (4 by 5 inches or larger, glossy finish, black and white or color format). For additional information on preparing documents for the Engineering Management Series, contact Sandy Grimm, Engineering Publications. Phone: 703-605-4503, E–mail: Sandra Grimm/WO/USDAFS@FSNOTES or [email protected]. Deadline for issue Number 2, 2003 EFN submissions: August 29, 2003 A Mandate To Work Effectively and Efficiently Vaughn Stokes Director of Engineering Washington Office Another winter and spring are almost over, and the field season is here. Before you begin your field duties, I ask you to revisit how you can do your jobs efficiently, effectively, and safely. Your safety and that of your fellow workers always must be your number one priority. Please always take that additional moment to think about your safety and to ensure that you have the proper equipment with you. This issue of Engineering Field Notes represents an exciting first—EFN now is coming to you electronically. As we continue to look for ways to free addi- tional funds for other uses, we all must search for areas in which we can be more efficient. We are being more efficient and saving precious funds by distributing Engineering Field Notes electronically, and we are meeting one of the Presidential Management Agendas: E-Government. Also in this issue, we are introducing two new columns: Engineering Bulletin Board and EFN Forum. I encourage you, as you look at the new format and media, to provide us with some honest feedback. For Engineering Field Notes to continue to be successful, we need your participation. I know many of you are doing work that is significantly different or on the cutting edge. Please consider writing about your experiences so that others can learn from you and the USDA Forest Service can become more effective and efficient. In this issue we formally announce our national award recipients for the year. Again, we had a tough time deciding who the national winners should be. The competition was extremely competitive, representing the top employees from each region. I wish we could give each nominee an award! We did bestow an unprecedented “Special Recognition” award this year to Raleigh Meadows from Region 8 for his longtime, outstanding engineering career. I urge you to read about this year’s winners on page 27. Just as I have stressed our efforts to become more effective and efficient in providing high-quality public service, I am also stressing a big challenge we have this year: the President’s Management Agenda item “Competitive Sourcing.” When the National Leadership Team made the decision to submit a portion of the maintenance function for competitive sourcing, we became actively involved in this process. To compete now and in the future, we need to determine how we can become more efficient and effective. You can help determine how best to attain and keep a competitive edge by providing input to your regional engineers. Now is the time to think outside the box and envision how our organization can be more effective in helping you do your jobs better. 1 The Washington Office (WO), regions, and forests are working hard to posi- tion our maintenance units so they can be the competitive winners in this competitive sourcing process. We are working hard to ensure that we have a better, stronger, and more appropriate organization at the end of this activ- ity. I also mentioned the need to become more effective and efficient because our scorecard from the Office of Management and Budget for management of USDA Forest Service infrastructure was not what we wanted it to be. Although we did well in overall management, planning, and purpose, we received less than satisfactory grades for results and accountability. As a result, our fiscal year (FY) 2004 budget has been decreased by $28 million in our construction and maintenance categories. We must direct more of our funds to accomplishing work, not just to paying for organization and planning. The Chief’s focus on process predicament should help significantly in moving us in a more positive direction. This spring and summer, we are facing the following two additional challenges: • Sustaining the audit by getting our inventory and condition survey databases up to date • Awarding and accomplishing projects delayed by funding fire season demands along with FY 2003 projects I urge you to consider carefully how you plan your work. Focus on the priorities. Position your region, your district, or your forest to accomplish priorities early in spite of disruptions that are sure to come. Take an active role in addressing the challenges I have mentioned. Help us have a safe, satisfying, and productive field season. 2 EFN Forum Engineering Field Notes’ new electronic format is a more flexible tool for sharing engineering news. Readers can submit traditional full-length articles that incorporate links to other sites or resources and employ appropriate color graphics. EFN is also expanding its coverage to enable authors to submit letters to the editor by e-mailing Sandy Grimm at SandraGrimm/WO/ USDAFS@FSNOTES or [email protected]. We welcome your feedback. An Engineering Bulletin Board column, introduced in this issue, will enable engineers to share noteworthy engineering information that does not warrant a full-length article, such as notices about Web sites or publications that hold valuable engineering information. You can help us keep readers up to date as priorities change and new information surfaces. As an additional reader service, the bulletin board column also will chronicle career changes and opportunities for engineers in the Washington Office (WO) and the detached units. We know that outstanding engineering work occurs daily. When your work saves the USDA Forest Service time and money in producing a high-quality product or service, let us know. Your report of outstanding work is a potential EFN article. Are you presenting a paper at a professional meeting? Consider submitting it to EFN. Are you responsible for training your fellow engineers? You could share the handouts you’ve already prepared with the EFN audience. Did you receive an award for completing an engineering project? Tell the EFN audience what was special about your work. Can other engineers apply your successful approach or process or technique to their work? Would your innovations make their work in other applications more effective, less costly, or less time consuming? Use your resources wisely by recycling valuable information that has reached only a limited audience. Other engineers are thirsty for information and curious about how others do their job. Your contribution might provide just the information, perspective, or impetus to overcome an obstacle, formulate a solution, or develop an outstanding engineering project. 3 Landslide Computer Modeling Potential Michael D. Dixon, P.E. Civil Engineer Payette National Forest The Payette National Forest selected the Stability Index Mapping (SINMAP) model for use in identifying landslide prone areas. The USDA Forest Service publication, Roads Analysis: Informing Decisions About Managing the National Forest Transportation System, mentions SINMAP as a tool for analyzing the potential for shallow landsliding, the most dominant form of soil mass movement and sediment delivery for Payette National Forest lands.