Annual Review

FY 2003 and FY 2004

Looking back over the past 2 fiscal years is a good measure of how we have done and an opportunity to think strategically about our work ahead. To do so, it is necessary to establish a baseline beginning in fiscal year 2003 (i.e., July 2002). At that time, the Idaho Conservation Data Center (IDCDC) had just received funding to support a full-time program coordinator from the US Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Nongame Fund, and a State Wildlife Grant. In all, there were 12 permanent staff members and 1 seasonal employee that compiled a total of 20,200 hr/yr and generated $350,000 in support of 21 projects. Two years later, at the start of FY2005 (i.e., July 2004), there were 19 permanent and 5 seasonal employees working 42,160 hr/yr supported by $980,000 on 41 projects. This was an increase of 58% in permanent staff, 108% in total hours, and 180% in funding for 95% more projects.

The observed growth was highlighted by reorganization to increase program capacity and support for essential core functions. The result is that our permanent staff is now organized into 4 work units: Administration and Project Support (program manager, office/grants manager, GIS/database analyst), Plant Community Ecology (5 plant ecologists, 2 data managers), Botany (4 botanists, 1 data manager), and Zoology (3 zoologists, 2 data managers). During the past fiscal year, we have been able to support professional development experiences for 15 permanent staff on 22 occasions. In addition, we now have new data management systems: Biotics, a relational database for tracking element occurrence data pertaining to rare species and plant community information; and an observational nongame database for animals. A new cost recovery strategy has been successfully implemented so we can meet all data requests within 5 working days. Likewise, we are exporting updated rare species data in 2 formats twice a year to 16 subscribers that form the financial foundation of our information management program.

Since the IDCDC has no dedicated source of funding we are highly dependent upon the support of our partners. Not only have our traditional partners been willing to increase their funding, there is now a more even distribution of support among a greater variety of private, state, and federal partners. We are very appreciative of their interest and support, and look forward to working with our partners to meet the challenge of continuing to connect science with conservation for more informed decisions about Idaho's biodiversity.