In many cases FWS would not need to bear all of the costs. Partnerships to jointly purchases aerial photography or TM scenes with other federal or state agencies are common and effective in reducing individual costs. The cost of technical experts. The cost of meetings and travel to the field. Accuracy Assessments by external means.
Contracting is expensive.
Costly in lost experience and dollars. Examples were given to walk through the process. Project area is 6000 acres. Cover map for the area plus a 3 mile buffer. 120 sample plots for training.