[SOS-PCA] November SOS Collector Call Notes

[Hill, Sarah E]

Hello SOS collectors and support people!


Hope all is well and everyone is having a lovely fall. Below you will find a summary of announcements and discussion topics from the November SOS collector call. Please note that the Bend Seed Extractory will not be accepting seed that arrives around Thanksgiving (Nov 22-24) so hold onto your seeds until the following week. Additionally, Jan 15 is the hard deadline for sending material.  There is planned electrical work in the early spring and they need to be done with cleaning by then.


We will have our last collector call of the year on December 5th, and will resume collector calls again in February of 2024. We will be deleting the old meeting invite and creating a new one for 2024, so keep an eye out for it. If you do not see a new collector call invite after the December meeting, contact me to be added to the list.

Enjoy these updates, and I’ll see you in December!


Cheers,
Sarah Hill, sehill at blm.gov

SOS National Curator



National Office Announcements

  *   At the end of October representatives from BLM, USFWS, and NPS all met to discuss the new partnership with each other in the SOS program. As the program expands to meet the needs of more teams and agencies, some aspects of the program will be updated for 2024 and we will be outlining those over the winter. Keep an eye out for updates like:

     *   Modifying how we track collections (additional seed sent form)

     *   Some will clarify SOS membership requirements and training

     *   Changes to digital data collection processes

     *   Outlining data security measures

     *   And more



  *   Next year, prepare to use digital data collection tools! We will be transitioning all data collection to digital format

     *   If this is a problem/challenge email Sarah and we can work through a solution

     *   Exception for Tribal partners



  *   Send in clearance forms if you want seed back! Use the updated ones on the website



  *   Reporting / QC

     *   Use the end of season checklist to make sure all the bits of data and reporting go to where they need to go!

        *   Reminder – Starting this year permits/permissions for non-blm lands should also be submitted to agency coordinator


     *   If no voucher, write “no voucher” in the herbarium field

        *   That way we know there is no voucher and that it's not missing data


     *   Common errors – not on the QC dashboard

        *   look at adjusted date 2, if there is 1/1/1970 delete it

        *   Look at formatting for date range fields

        *   If you had recollections, double check that the data is submitted correctly!

           *   Review how recollection data should look – SPEC_CHAR should say Y and LIN_NUM should have the original collection number – the alt collection number field is for non-sos collection numbers



Digital Data

  *   Last chance for any digital data collection feedback: https://forms.office.com/r/PtkZyq8KP8

  *   Send any shapefiles for next season to Kristy by December 15th

  *   We will be decommissioning the 2023 groups 1/22-2/2. If still collecting, please plan to use paper data sheets at that time and let Kristy know who will need to be added to the 2024 groups.







Partner Updates

Bend

Bend is doing great keeping up with collections that are being sent in, so please continue to send materials to them unless you have already been told otherwise.

A few things to note:

  *   Send seed sooner rather than later – particularly if there is the potential for a shutdown.

  *   Do not send seed that would arrive around Thanksgiving, so arriving Nov 22-24

  *   Deadline for sending material is a hard Jan 15th this year. There is planned electrical work in the early spring and they need to be done with cleaning by then.

  *   Bend will not be able to accept new collections until the work is finished, so we cannot send seed until likely April 2024

  *   Reminder – they ask for a notice for wild collections over 50lbs, and this also changes how they bill for their work





Agency Breakout sessions



BLM

  *   If you haven’t already, email Sarah to know if you are supporting a BLM collection team in 2024!

USFWS notes

  *   GS11 Ecologist position will be flown to support seed collection activities in the Hawaiian Islands, A GS9/11 position as a seed program manager for Puerto Rico. Job announcements will be shared on the SOS listerv.

  *   End of season checklist- be sure to email Kelly copies of data forms after uploading data, as well as 3 photos for each collection, permits, and an annual report (each team).

  *   Note about photos: please remove all location data and convert HEIC files to jpg or png

  *   Data submission:

  *   Geology link: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/mapview/?center=-97,39.6&zoom=4

  *   Plant height: do not enter a range, submit using decimal notation

  *   Delete any trailing spaces in free text entry fields

  *   Number of individuals sampled from must be at least 50

  *   Seed number must be over 3000 PLS to ship to Bend/Dorena



NPS Notes

  *   NPS will be hiring GS9 positions to serve as seed coordinators for various regions throughout the west including CA, ID, Northern Rockies and the SW. Positions will be shared announced with the SOS listerv.



Sarah Hill

she/her

Seeds of Success National Curator
Bureau of Land Management - contractor

Currently working from home - contact me for my cell #


Seeds of Success<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/native-plant-and-seed-material-development/collection>

National Seed Strategy<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy>

Plant Conservation Alliance<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy/pca>

Subscribe to the PCA and SOS listservs<http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo>

Why I list my pronouns<https://pronouns.org/what-and-why>

I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Nuwe/Nume (Paiute, Shoshone, Bannock) people who have stewarded this land throughout the generations.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/sos_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20231116/d072715a/attachment.html>