NRCG - EASTERN ZONE BOARD
CHARTER
MISSION
The Eastern Zone Board (Board) is established to further interagency cooperation,
communications, and coordination. The Board will provide interagency fire management
direction and all risk support within the Eastern Zone of the Northern Rockies
Coordinating Group (NRCG). The mission will be achieved by:
-Operating at a strategic/oversight level
-Encouraging cooperation across jurisdictional and administrative boundaries
-Overseeing fire health and safety issues
-Providing interagency direction to field units from the NRCG executive level
-Providing a group response to agency specific requests that have interagency
implications
-Identifying concerns and issues for the Zone Representative to take before the NRCG
MEMBERSHIP
The Eastern Zone will be composed of representatives from the agencies and counties
listed below.
Agencies Represented
Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Crow Agency
• Northern Cheyenne Agency
• Fort Peck Agency
•Rocky Boys Agency
•Fort Belknap Agency
•Chippewa Cree Tribe
Bureau of Land Management
• Eastern Montana – Dakotas District
• Central Montana District
• Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument
• Montana Highline District
• Billings Field Office
• Pompey’s Pillar National Monument
Fish and Wildlife Service
• C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
• Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Forest Service
• Custer/Gallatin National Forest
Montana Department of Natural Resource Conservation
• Eastern Land Office (Miles City)
• Southern Land Office (Billings)
• Northeastern Land Office (Lewistown)
National Park Service
• Little Big Horn National Battlefield Monument
State of South Dakota
• Division of Wildland Fire Suppression
Counties within the Zone
Montana:
Big Horn, Blaine, Carbon, Carter, Chouteau, Custer,
Daniels. Dawson, Fallon, Fergus, Garfield, Golden
Valley, Hill, Judith Basin, McCone, Musselshell,
Petroleum, Phillips, Powder River, Prairie, Richland,
Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan, Stillwater, Sweet Grass,
Treasure, Valley, Wheatland, Wibaux, Yellowstone
South Dakota:
Harding
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Each of the agencies which are signatory to this Charter shall appoint a representative to
the Board. The Board shall consist of:
1 Member – Bureau of Land Management
1 Member – US Fish and Wildlife Service
1 Member – National Park Service
1 Member – Montana County Fire Warden’s Association
1 Member – Montana State Fire Chief’s Association
1 Member – US Forest Service
1 Member – Bureau of Indian Affairs
1 Member – Montana Department of Natural Resources
1 Member – South Dakota Division of Wildland Fire Suppression
Board representatives will be responsible to ensure that respective agency policy and
procedures are maintained and their agency administrators are informed. Agency and
county representatives will have the authority to represent their organizations in all
operational aspects for fire management.
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The Board will represent their agencies by:
 providing leadership and a coordinated direction to wildland fire management
programs
 providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and development of consistent
policies
 fostering cooperation, avoiding duplication and facilitating maximum efficiency
in wildland fire management programs through planning and utilization of closest
forces and shared resources
 establishing and maintaining an interagency approach to wildland fire
management programs
 facilitating of a high degree of professionalism, trust, and mutual assistance
among wildland fire management agencies
 identifying issues, establishing priorities, developing alternatives, and
recommending a unified course of action for respective agency administrators
MEETINGS
The Board will meet at least twice a year (spring and fall), or as often as deemed
necessary to identify and accomplish tasks. Conference calls can be established as often
as necessary. The chairperson will establish the conference call-in number.
The chairperson of the Board shall typically be rotated among the members, but may be
appointed by the agency administrators. The chairperson shall serve a two-year term.
The rotation will begin January 1, 2012 in the order listed above.
The chairperson is responsible for calling the meetings, setting the agenda, and follow-up
of action items. For purpose of continuity, a facilitator and knowledgeable note taker will
be provided by one of the agencies. This note taker will ensure that the chairperson
receives meeting notes for distribution.
FUNCTIONS
The Board will perform specific functions:
 Provide a forum for interagency fire management issues within the zone.
 Serve as a multi-agency coordination (MAC) group when activated (see Appendix
A, MAC Group Operating Guide).
 Consult with NRCG on approval of Eastern Montana IMT2 Incident Commanders
(ICs), Deputies, and trainees.
 Oversee interagency IMT3s based within the zone boundary. This includes
approval of ICs and trainees, and review of team charters and/or operating guides.
Assist the DNRC County Assist Team (CAT).
 Annually review IMT evaluations, identify trends and problem areas, and propose
solutions to the ICs and NRCG as appropriate.
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 Assist IMTs with recruitment, retention and succession planning of team
members.
NRCG COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
The Eastern Zone provides representatives to the following NRCG Committees:
Aviation, Business, Equipment, Fire Program Analysis (FPA), Native American Crew
(NAC), Operations, Prevention & Interface, and Training. The representative of each
committee is selected by and will report to the Board. The board supports having vice
representatives when possible to provide depth and consistency to the committees.
Membership duration varies based on the respective committee charters.
TASK GROUPS
The NRCG Board or Zone Board may identify issues and concerns of mutual interest and
as needed create and make assignment(s) to specific task groups. Each task group may be
comprised of a liaison, representatives from each of the agencies, plus technical
specialists with expertise and interest in the subject area.
NRCG ZONE REPRESENTATIVE
The Board will appoint a zone representative. This individual will provide the
coordination bridge between the Geographic Area NRCG Board of Directors and the
zone organization that is in place to manage the business of a zone. Zone representative
will be selected at the zone level and will serve for a minimum of two (2) years. The
objective of a zone representative is to represent their zone during committee meetings
and disperse information to personnel within the zone.
EXPENSES
The cost of salary, travel, per diem, and operating expenses for the Board members will
be borne by the member’s agency. The Board will determine how to cover costs of
special projects or needs.
POLICY DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Should a dispute or disagreement arise between agency partners and cooperators that
cannot be resolved at the Eastern Zone level, each party shall state the area(s) of
disagreement in writing and present them to the other party for consideration. If
agreement on the interpretation is not reached within thirty (30) days, the parties shall
forward the written presentation of the disagreement to the NRCG which shall make a
non-binding recommendation to the parties to the disagreement.
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This Charter is effective at date of signatures:
Approvals:
_______________________
Custer/Gallatin National Forest
Forest Supervisor
Date:___________________
_______________________
National Park Service
LIBI Superintendent
Date:___________________
_______________________
Bureau of Land Management
EMDDO - District Manager
Date:___________________
________________________
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Regional Director
Date:____________________
_______________________
Bureau of Land Management
CMD – District Manager
Date:___________________
___________________________
USFWS Charles M Russell, NWR
Project Leader
Date:______________________
_______________________
Bureau of Land Management
Hi-Line – District Manager
Date:___________________
_________________________
Bureau of Land Management
Billings Field Office – Field Manager
Date:______________________
___________________________
USFWS Medicine Lake, NWR
Project Leader
Date:_______________________
_____________________________
Montana Dept. of Natural Resources
Area Manager – Eastern Land Office
Date:_________________________
____________________________
Montana Dept. of Natural Resources
Area Manager – Northeast Land Office
Date:________________________
_____________________________
Montana Dept. Natural Resources
Area Manager – Southern Land Office
Date:_________________________
______________________________
Director
State of South Dakota
Division of Wildland Fire Suppression
Date:__________________________
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