Our Partners in the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Department of Defense Affiliates
Ft. Irwin US Army	MCAGCC US Marines	Edwards AFB US Air Force	Nellis AFB US Air Force	China Lake NAS US Navy	MCLB Barstow US Marines

Department of the Interior Affiliates
US Geological Survey EROS Data Center	Bureau of Land Management	The National Park Service	US Fish and Wildlife Service

State Affiliates			University Affiliates
California's Dept. of Fish and Game**	California State Parks**	California Historical Resources Info System**	Utah State University**

Principle Collaborators

DOD Role
The Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program (MDEP) represents a Department of Defense (DOD) effort to meld together a shared scientific database that can be used to affect dynamic sustainable land management decisions. It is not itself a management process, but a tool to enable more accurate modeling of environmental factors that will facilitate data driven management within the Mojave ecoregion. The program directly supports the military readiness in the region through provision of a framework for determining research strategies, mitigation measures and designing enlightened, long-term resource planning to ensure ongoing activities, including training mission objectives. It will provide all users (federal, state, local, and private) easy Internet access to georeferenced natural and cultural resource data for the entire ecoregion. The program is a model for the sharing and integration of data and expertise from a long list of participants including the National Training Center, Fort Irwin; Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake; Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twenty Nine Palms; and Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow.

DMG Role
The California Desert Managers Group (DMG) was formed to provide desert wide operational collaboration for ecosystem management, customer service and organizational efficiency. The DMG was instrumental in the formulation, support and guidance of the MDEP. Through its Science and Data Management Team, a major role of the DMG has been to provide the link between the technological capabilities and the on the ground user requirements for a diverse array of agency missions and management directions. This overview provides the priorities for data collection, the encouragement for funding and the coordination of input from on going science and research projects.

BLM Role
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provided the Assistance Representative for the project that also was the focal point for all administrative activities. In this role the BLM provided the administrative oversight for the Task Order with Utah State University (USU.), the Interagency Cooperative Agreement with the US Geological Survey, and the Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Defense at Ft. Irwin. They CO-chaired the Legacy Management Oversight Group (LMOG) and assisted in facilitation needed to accomplish each of the four identified Phases of the USU. Task Order. The BLM provided extensive field data for the project and participated in recommending of priorities to the USU. Task Order. Each of the LMOG meetings logistical support, agendas and final minutes for the project were carried out by the BLM. The Bureau was also the focal point for all financial support functions of the project as it related to the above mentioned agreements and MOU.

USGS Role
The US Geological Survey (USGS) designed the Mojave Clearinghouse Network, provided much of the data, and served as science advisor for the program. The Mojave Clearinghouse Network was established with a main node at Ft. Irwin using Internet protocols compliant with National Spatial Data Infrastructure guidelines. Digital topographic, geologic, and soils data were interpreted and mosaicked to provide seamless regional coverage. These data as well as digital cartographic and image data, and assistance with map production, were provided to Utah State University for integration and distribution of data for the Task Order. USGS was represented on the Legacy Management Oversight Group (LMOG) where they provided scientific advice.

USU Role
The College of Natural Resources at Utah State University (USU) was given the lead role for the execution of the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program. USU provided the technical expertise and management required to design, compile, and realize the MDEP. Collaboration with the US Geological Survey, who was charged with the design and implementation phase of the network delivery system for the Mojave Clearinghouse Network, provided an integrated system to assemble, store, and deliver environmental data. USU was responsible for accomplishing the spatial data acquisition and assembly into unified seamless coverage. Data were made accessible through the creation of user-interfaces that facilitate queries and data recovery.

MDEP Acknowledgments