USGS drone footage of prescribed burns

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-2023-004942&type=Request)

* Tracking Number: DOI-USGS-2023-004942
* 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 images and video recorded in drone flyovers of prescribed burns in "USGS (Wetland Aquatic Research Center)" and "USGS Wetland Aquatic Research Center Lafayette LA" on January 26, 2023.

This mission was disclosed in a log of drone missions released via a previous FOIA request. The remote pilots in command are listed as Stephen B. Hartley and William R. Jones.

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-2023-004942. Please cite this number in any future communications with our office regarding your request. You request the following information:

I am requesting images and video recorded in drone flyovers of prescribed burns in "USGS (Wetland Aquatic Research Center)" and "USGS Wetland Aquatic Research Center Lafayette LA" on January 26, 2023.

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 43 C.F.R. § 2.39. 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. 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 15 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

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 afternoon Mr. Welsh,

Please see the attachment for our response to your FOIA request. I will send you a link to your Muckrock email to download the pictures and videos. If you have any trouble downloading the files, please contact me at foia@usgs.gov.

v/r

Eric J. Darby

Government Information Specialist

[Share image]

Darby, Eric J shared a list with you

If you have any issues downloading the files, please contact me at foia@usgs.gov. Access to the records will be good for 60 days. Eric J. Darby, GIS

<https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/usgs-foiaext/_layouts/15/acceptinvite.aspx?invitation=%7BF45B6536%2DA648%2D4167%2DAF25%2D6E6B1D1A1870%7D&listId=9c16bd51%2D427b%2D42a2%2Db7ca%2Da10ce6ee0353&e=2%3Akh9y3u>
[icon] DOI-USGS-2023-004942 - Welsh, Ben
[permission globe icon] This link only works for the direct recipients of this message.
Open <https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/usgs-foiaext/_layouts/15/acceptinvite.aspx?invitation=%7BF45B6536%2DA648%2D4167%2DAF25%2D6E6B1D1A1870%7D&listId=9c16bd51%2D427b%2D42a2%2Db7ca%2Da10ce6ee0353&e=2%3Akh9y3u>
[Microsoft logo] [cid:924985b0-b81f-495d-ad65-e57ee4d7b8c8]
Privacy Statement <https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement\>

Desarmes, Marlie E added something in the follwing folder where you are listed as a Charge Card Approving Official:

All_MD1.8.2023.pdf

Good afternoon,
Please disregard the previous email. I was testing an automate flow and it gave an error and emailed random individuals. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your time,

[cid:5cd7d8a4-d170-4b0d-b92a-fa808d40fa94]
Marlie E. A. Desarmes
Administrative Operations Assistant
mdesarmes@usgs.gov

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
8711 37th Street SE
Jamestown, ND 58401