USGS drone footage of Assateague Island National Seashore

Dear Mr. Welsh,

Can you submit your request for information through the FOIAonline.gov<https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/home> portal? Unfortunately, email is no longer a valid method of receipt of FOIA requests per DOI regulations. The FOIAonline is a secure, web-based tracking and case-management system.

Please select in the Agency field: U.S. Department of the Interior, then for Sub Agency field: United States Geological Survey.

Sincerely,

Judy Cearley

Government Information Specialist

U.S. Geological Survey

Department of the Interior

(650) 329-4035 (office)

foia@usgs.gov<mailto:foia@usgs.gov>

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOI-USGS-2023-004943&type=Request)

* Tracking Number: DOI-USGS-2023-004943
* Requester Name:
Ben Welsh
* Date Submitted: 06/06/2023
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

I am requesting all video and image drone footage recorded during the October 2022 unmanned aerial vehicle missions in and around the Assateague Island National Seashore.

The mission was disclosed in a flight log released via a prior FOIA request. A series of missions were recorded with the RIDs of:

R_3dTivlqY6ccKVd7
R_1obtsFMoC2O4CCQ
R_3q8bodDthaQ7fKl
R_3Dbc8tOPYfKrF0l
R_2ciLS3wpACgWlH5
R_3sp3hquMqPGNvRF
R_a4fdNfDCML6WL4t
R_1EibHQceAiE1zG9
R_3FUlNSqnV21Uj6e
R_0GqMajZqasDdg9b
R_BVyrmRoO95ewfAd

The RPICs listed were

Jennifer M Cramer
Sandra M Brosnahan
Jin-Si R Over
Seth Ackerman

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Ben Welsh

Dear Mr. Welsh:
On June 6, 2023, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office received your FOIA request dated June 6, 2023, and assigned it control number DOI-USGS-2023-004943.  Please cite this number in any future communications with our office regarding your request.  You request the following information:
All video and image drone footage recorded during the October 2022 unmanned aerial vehicle missions in and around the Assateague Island National Seashore.
The mission was disclosed in a flight log released via a prior FOIA request. A series of missions were recorded with the RIDs of:
R_3dTivlqY6ccKVd7
R_1obtsFMoC2O4CCQ
R_3q8bodDthaQ7fKl
R_3Dbc8tOPYfKrF0l
R_2ciLS3wpACgWlH5
R_3sp3hquMqPGNvRF
R_a4fdNfDCML6WL4t
R_1EibHQceAiE1zG9
R_3FUlNSqnV21Uj6e
R_0GqMajZqasDdg9b
R_BVyrmRoO95ewfAd
We have classified you as a representative of the “news media” requester.  As such, we may charge you for some of our duplication costs, but we will not charge you for our search or review costs; you also are entitled to up to 100 pages of photocopies (or an equivalent volume) for free. See .  If, after taking into consideration your fee category entitlements, our processing costs are less than $50.00, we will not bill you because the cost of collection would be greater than the fee collected. (http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=0fc3ab3499768eebc2e3691c8cf88dec&rgn=div5&view=text&node=43:1.1.1.1.2&idno=43#43:1.1.1.1.2.7.5.3) 43 C.F.R. § 2.39 See 43 C.F.R. § 2.49(a)(1) .  You can expect to hear from us promptly regarding the outcome of this search.
You have agreed to pay up to $200.00 for the processing of your request.  If we find that this will not cover the cost of processing your request, we will stop processing your request at the point this amount has been reached and will let you know before we incur additional charges.  You can then either agree to pay the additional amount needed or narrow the scope of your request.
We use Multitrack Processing to process FOIA requests.  The Simple track is for requests that would generally take one to five workdays to process.  The Normal track is for requests that would generally take six to twenty workdays to process.  The Complex track is for requests that would generally take twenty-one to sixty workdays to process.  The Extraordinary track is for requests that would generally take more than sixty workdays to process.  The Expedited track is for requests that have been granted expedited processing, which are processed as soon as practicable.  Within each track, requests are usually processed on a first-in, first-out basis.
Your request falls into the Normal processing track.  There are 16 requests pending ahead of yours in our overall processing queue.  Presuming that our current FOIA capacity and burden remain constant, we expect that we will dispatch a determination to you by July 10, 2023.
You may narrow the scope of your request to obtain quicker processing in your currently-assigned track or move the request into a different track, which may enable us to process it more quickly by communicating with us at foia@usgs.gov.
The 2007 FOIA amendments created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation.  Using OGIS services does not affect your right to pursue litigation.  You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road - OGIS
College Park, MD  20740-6001
Telephone:  (202) 741-5770
Fax:  (202) 741-5769
Toll-free:  1 (877) 684-6448
E-mail:  ogis@nara.gov
Web: https://www.archives.gov/ogis (https://www.archives.gov/ogis)
Please note that using OGIS services does not affect the timing of an appeal with the Department’s FOIA & Privacy Act Appeals Officer. Contact information for the Department’s FOIA Public Liaison, who you may also seek dispute resolution services from, is available at https://www.doi.gov/foia/foiacenters.
If you have any questions about your request, you may contact me by email at foia@usgs.gov.
Sincerely,
Eric J. Darby
Government FOIA Analyst

Good morning Mr. Welsh,

The subject matter experts (SME) have located over 50,000-60,000 RGB/multispectral images and multiple videos in response to your FOIA request. The SME anticipate uploading the records to the following websites by September 2023:

USGS ScienceBased: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/

USGS Multimedia Gallery: https://www.usgs.gov/products/multimedia-gallery

I will keep your request open until I have received confirmation from the SME that all records have been uploaded. I will keep you updated on the upload status of the records.

v/r

Eric J. Darby
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Geological Survey
Email: edarby@usgs.gov<mailto:edarby@usgs.gov>

Dear Mr. Welsh,
As of yet, we have been unable to make a determination on your request, DOI-USGS-2023-004943.  Our Subject Matter Experts have located over 50,000-60,000 RGB/multispectral images and multiple videos in response to your FOIA request.  Your request falls into the Normal processing track and there are 8 requests pending ahead of yours in this processing track.  We hope to complete our response to you by September 30, 2023.
We apologize for this delay.  As we have discussed, you may narrow the scope of your request to obtain quicker processing in your currently assigned track or move the request into a different track (which may have the effect of reducing the cost of processing your request and having it processed more quickly).  You also may agree to an alternative time period for processing by communicating with us, our FOIA Requester Center, or the FOIA Public Liaison.  Contact information for the Department’s FOIA Requester Centers and FOIA Public Liaison is available at https://www.doi.gov/foia/foiacenters . You may also seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS).  If you choose to contact OGIS, you may do so in any of the following ways.
If you choose to contact OGIS, you may do so in any of the following ways:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road – OGIS
College Park, Maryland  20740-6001
Telephone:      (202) 741-5770
Fax:                 (202) 741-5769
Toll-free:         1-877-684-6448
E-mail: ogis@nara.gov (mailto:ogis@nara.gov)
Web: https://ogis.archives.gov (https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fogis.archives.gov%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cmruiz%40usgs.gov%7C25416f727ad2427ffec608dac689d1dd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638040592469937233%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=l7owVncCepLIAZ59Y7z1%2BVSVOPglmQI4wNgMwn2eQF0%3D&reserved=0)
Although we hope you will wait so we can upload the records to our website, you may file an appeal with the Department’s FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer regarding this delay.  If you choose to appeal this delay, you may do so anytime between now and the date we make our determination on the FOIA request.  Appeals arriving or delivered after 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, will be deemed received on the next workday. Your appeal must be made in writing.  You may submit your appeal and accompanying materials to the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer by mail, courier service, fax, or email.  All communications concerning your appeal should be clearly marked with the words: "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL."  You must also include with your appeal copies of all correspondence between you and USGS concerning your FOIA request, including your original FOIA request and USGS's response.  Failure to include with your appeal all correspondence between you and USGS will result in the Department's rejection of your appeal, unless the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer determines (in the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer’s sole discretion) that good cause exists to accept the defective appeal.
Please include your name and daytime telephone number (or the name and telephone number of an appropriate contact), email address and fax number (if available) in case the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer needs additional information or clarification of your appeal. DOI FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Office Contact Information
Department of the Interior
Office of the Solicitor
Attn: FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Office
1849 C Street, N.W.
MS-6556 MIB
Washington, D.C.  20240
Telephone:       (202) 208-5339
Fax:                 (202) 208-6677
Email: FOIA.Appeals@sol.doi.gov (https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fview%3Dcm%26fs%3D1%26tf%3D1%26to%3DFOIA.Appeals%40sol.doi.gov&data=05%7C01%7Cmruiz%40usgs.gov%7C25416f727ad2427ffec608dac689d1dd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638040592469937233%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LrbaRT6hTxBwvF7RBFY9Eia3Pk42DgvnG9bPuns%2F8Uc%3D&reserved=0)
We regret the delay and appreciate your consideration in this matter.  For more information on FOIA Administrative Appeals, you may review the Department’s FOIA regulations at 43 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart H.
We appreciate your patience and the good open communication with you regarding this request.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at foia@usgs.gov.  I will keep you updated you on the progress of the request. (https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fview%3Dcm%26fs%3D1%26tf%3D1%26to%3Dfoia%40usgs.gov&data=05%7C01%7Cmruiz%40usgs.gov%7C25416f727ad2427ffec608dac689d1dd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638040592469937233%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=pKoyTDhRkSWcrFu5VNtCQXPMRdw4NFuRWEyQTGo0bn0%3D&reserved=0)
Sincerely,
Eric J. Darby
Government Information Specialist

Good morning Mr. Welsh,

Please see the attachment for our response to your FOIA request. If you have any questions, please contact me at foia@usgs.gov.

v/r

Eric J. Darby
Government Information Specialist