eFOTG electronic Field Office Technical Guide

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eFOTGelectronic Field Office Technical Guide

• August 26, 2002

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OLD The Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG)

• The technical guide is the traditional,
  paper-based reference tool used in offices of the
  Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to
  organize technical resources and activities for
  conservation. The technical guide is
• Paper based Each office maintains the technical
  guide in three-ring binders, adding and deleting
  material manually.
• Localized Contains scientifically proven and
  time tested NRCS conservation technology,
  approved by a State Technical Guide Committee
  (STGC) in each State.
• Available in NRCS offices A States technical
  guide can take up several shelves of office
  space, so NRCS offices maintain the guides and
  let partners photocopy the portions they need.

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NEW The Electronic Field Office Technical Guide
(eFOTG)

• The electronic technical guide makes NRCS
  technical information available on the web. The
  electronic technical guide is
• Paperless Almost all material is on-line and
  updated electronically.
• Localized State Technical Guide Committees
  still manage and approve State and local based
  content.
• Available to everyone No more going to NRCS
  offices to view technical guides. Farmers and
  ranchers, technical providers, students, and
  others can use the material on their home, school
  or office computers.
• Linked to other web-based resources The new
  technical guides have links to thousands of NRCS
  web pages and related external sites.

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Comments from Users

• Overall it was really easy to use and move
  around in. I had no problems navigating. Quite a
  few interesting and helpful links.. Soil
  Conservationist, California
• If you have not seen the new eFOTG web site you
  need to. Imagine every field offices technical
  guide on the web! We just completed entering all
  our data on the eFOTG and it works like a
  charm..Resource Conservationist, Portland,
  Oregon
• The site was easy to access and easy to
  use.District Conservationist, DeFuniak Springs,
  Florida
• I don't know if we know it yet but I think this
  tool is going to do more for introducing the
  Pacific Basin to the rest of NRCS and USDA, dare
  I say the WORLD. Soil Conservationist, Pacific
  Basin Area
• The new electronic technical guide will
  definitely help our staff and I do our job faster
  and better. We no longer need to spend hours
  filing updates or making multiple copies of
  important documents to insure we can find them
  when we need to. When a farmer calls me asking
  about what a new technology for irrigation water
  management can do for him, I can direct him to
  our latest online technical information.
  District Conservationist, Fort Collins, Colorado
  
• Coming from a person who has spent my first 15
  years using the materials and my last 15 years as
  the state engineer trying to maintain the stuff I
  see, not only the value, but the enormous time
  savings at the state and field level.
  Agricultural Engineer, Little Rock, Arkansas
• With eFOTG you don't have to worry whether the
  field office has the latest information filed.
  The latest information is posted once and that's
  it. Management Analyst, Texas

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Whats in the TECHNICAL Guide?

• Section I - General Resource ReferencesThis
  section provides general state maps, descriptions
  of Major Land Resource Areas, watershed
  information, and links to NRCS reference manuals
  and handbooks. This information helps people
  understand the natural resources within the field
  office service area and helps them make decisions
  about resource use and management systems. It
  also provides references or electronic links to
  researchers, universities, and cooperating
  agencies, as well as conservation practice costs,
  agricultural laws and regulations, and
  computer-based tools used in resource analysis.
• Section II Natural Resource InformationThis
  section contains information, data, and
  interpretations about soil, water, air, plant,
  and animal resources. This information includes
  soils information climatic data cultural
  resources information threatened and endangered
  species lists ecological site descriptions and
  forage suitability group descriptions.
• Section III - Resource Management Systems and
  Quality Criteria
• Quality Criteria are used to establish treatment
  levels necessary to adequately address natural
  resource concerns and human considerations that
  help provide sustained and enhanced use of
  natural resources.
• Section IV - Practice Standards and
  SpecificationsThis section contains the
  standards for each of the conservation practices
  adopted for use within a State. Practice
  standards establish the minimum level of
  acceptable quality for planning, designing,
  installing, operating, and maintaining
  conservation practices. Practice specifications
  establish the technical details and workmanship
  required to install a practice on specific sites
  and the quality and extent of the materials to be
  used.
• Section V - Conservation EffectsConservation
  Effects provides background information on how
  the implementation of Conservation Practices
  affects each identified resource concern in the
  state.

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eFOTG Benefits

• Supports and benefits Farm Bill implementation
  and program delivery
• Provides framework for showcasing NRCS technology
• Provides multiple ways to quickly access and
  process technology information
• Reduces paperwork
• Provides a consistent and easy way for State
  committees to keep technical guides up-to-date
  and certified
• Provides field offices, farmers and ranchers,
  technical service providers, and others access
  to NRCS technology across States and field
  offices
• Maintaining web page links is streamlined and can
  be accomplished by technical specialists. Does
  not require State information technology staff
  commitment.
• Field offices save time by not having to file
  updates
• National template with available content is
  provided
• States can easily import content from other
  States
• System maintenance is centralized, reducing
  burden on States
• Technical service providers can access technical
  content without it being specially prepared for
  them
• States can more easily manage and track updates
• The framework accommodates and leverages existing
  state electronic technical guide content/sites

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Features All Types of Technical Guide Content
are accommodated in eFOTG
PDF files
Word document or spreadsheet
Web application
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www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/efotg